Saints Behaving Badly
by Jaxon The Jester
Summary: Follow the story of Angelique, fallen from grace, privilege and luxury into a life of crime and decadence, of joy and suffering, of love and betrayal. This is the path that forges puckish rogues as the alternative is to go insane, after all, all Saints are bloody. Prequel to Sinners Called Saints. Rated M for eventual sex, violence and other fun things. R&R and all that Jazz.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome to the Prequel! Why am I writing the Prequel second? Because. Enjoy!

Stilwater was a disgusting city; it was probably named that to mimic the stagnant odor the city seemed to have. If I had a choice, I would have never set foot in this place. It was riddled with crime, gangs controlled the streets, just in moving in to this little shit hole I managed to rent, I had almost gotten shot four times. I would probably get shot at again today.

My tiny bathroom had barely enough room for me stand as I applied makeup. Unlike most women, I wasn't trying to make myself look prettier, I was masculinizing myself. When I had first come to this city, I found myself attracting too much unwanted attention. I had trouble with the Vice Kings at first when they thought I was one of their street walkers. That meant I couldn't wear yellow or my usual clothing, so I switched out my outfits for men's clothing. Then I ran into problems with the los carnales because of my hair. Not enough people had ever seen a non-white person with naturally red hair and explaining about recessive genes while avoiding a beat down was ridiculous, which led to me dying my hair black. My hair had been too damn long to dye it all, so I chopped off the majority of it. I mourned the loss of it having never cut it before but it helped with my disguise.

Combined with my impressive height of 6'2", baggy clothes and dark skin, I looked like a badass dude. If I kept my head down, people left me the hell alone. I also found that the hoes were more likely to talk to me if they thought I was a buyer. I knew my sister was in this city somewhere whoring her drug addicted ass out and finding her was a pain in mine. Makeup done, I styled my hair so that it fell around my face in an unflattering way. I pulled on my leather jacket, tucking my Sig Sauer P226R into my belt hostler.

I spent the day trying to find anyone that knew Babette, dodging angry pimps and Vice Kings alike but to no avail. I gave up when the sky started to darken, my stomach killing me. I decided to head over to Freckle Bitches, having found the joy in their food. Seriously, it was like crack, although knowing this city, it probably did have crack in it.

I sighed as I realized I was down to my last hundred dollars, I didn't know what the hell to do for money. I was still pissed my hair hadn't bought in much money, apparently ginger didn't sell that well. I didn't have any skills and I had no idea if my new ids would come off as legal. Maybe I could get hired at Freckle Bitches; at least I would get free food then. I ignored the man hocking watches as I walked home and stopped by Miss J, a regular on this block.

"Hey little man," She snickered, "you doing good tonight?" Miss J had been the one to give me pointers on how to talk to the hookers around the city and how to hide from the gangs while I did so. I pulled out my wallet taking out one of the few pictures I had of my sister. She had promised to spread it around and give me a heads up. There was a sound of fighting up the block. "Shit, this isn't good." There was a gang of Rollerz fighting with Vice Kings when a car full of Carnales pulled up. There was gun fire everywhere, a Rollerz ran pass the two of us carrying a rifle. I took off at the sight only to be clipped by a car that crashed. I fell to the ground, my side killing me.

"Wrong time, wrong place, dawg." A Vice King pointed a gun at me, I threw a hand up as a shot went off. The gangbanger slumped to the ground behind him a white boy held a smoking gun as an older black man approached me.

"You okay, playa?" The man asked me, helping me to my feet. Half carrying me away from the burning car and dead bodies, the stink of burning flesh making me ill.

"Julius, let's move." The white boy said as he scanned the area, his gun held out to shoot anyone who moved. The three of us stumbled as the car exploded, I would have been killed if they hadn't moved me. The man, Julius helped me across the street, setting me down against a wall.

"That don't look so bad, you should be fine." He said after looking at my bruised side. "That's Troy," He pointed to the white boy whose back was to me, "you can thank him later."

"Hey." Troy turned back to the two of us, giving me a good look at him. He was no damn boy that was for sure. He had to be at least ten years older than me, brown hair that begged to have hands run through it and a goatee that would feel just right when kissed.

"The Row ain't safe no more, son. We got gangs fightin' over shit that ain't theirs and you in the way. They don't care if you representin' or not." I tried to interrupt him but Troy beat me to it.

"Julius there's no time to recruit." I could hear sirens in the distance.

"We need all the help we can get son."

"No we need to get our asses out of here."

"In a minute." Julius looked annoyed to be interrupted. "Look, the Row's got a problem. Come to the church when you wanna be a part of the solution." The pair of them took off leaving me sitting there. I clutched my side as I stumbled home, making sure to lock my door. I stared at the wall, my head hurting from today's events. Why couldn't my sister have gone to a calmer city? I was still staring when someone knocked at my door.

"You dropped this, child." Miss J stood there with my wallet in hand.

"Thanks." I said as I let her in for a cup of coffee, it was the least I could do. "What the hell happened out there?"

"Just another day," she sighed, "Gangs have been tearing this city a part for years, the ones who helped you are the newest, they call themselves the Saints."

"Somehow I doubt they are." I muttered.

"You know, they might be able to help you. Julius is a good man; he's really trying to help the city unlike the other gangs."

"There's one problem. I think they think I'm a guy." The hooker's laughter didn't help my self-esteem at all.

XXX

The church in question was one of the oldest in the city, right in the heart of the Row. There was a crowd in the courtyard, all of them wearing some purple; I stood out like a sore thumb in all black.

"Every muthafucka here knows what we need to do. Those bitches be ridin' around, thinkin' they own these streets. I don't care what flags they're flyin'... Rollerz, Carnales, Vice Kings... no one's makin' this nigga scared to walk the Row. We 'bout to lock this shit down... right now." Julius stood on the steps of the church as he gave his speech, Troy at his side. The bad English made me wince, I wasn't the best with the language but years of schooling left me judging him. The saints cheered in response until one of them glared at me.

"Who the fuck is this guy?" The glaring saint pointed at me, I opened my mouth to correct him, only to be cut off.

"Troy and I found him, I was gonna see if he'd ride with us."

"Her." I squeaked out but everyone ignored me.

"Julius, if he wants to run with the Saints he's gotta be canonized."

"He's right, Julius. Everyone had to do it."

"You ready for this, playa?" The gang made a circle much like kids at a fight in school.

"Merde." I swore as the first person came at me. I was good at fighting; I had to be growing up. As the kid from the most fucked up family in school, I had often been the target for bullying. I had learned the hard way, my ass had gotten kicked until I learned not to get hit. I fought dirty, pulling ears and hair tossing my opponents into each other. I went for the knees, knowing how easy they were to take out. The last person got in a lucky hit, leaving my head ringing as they went down from a kick in the nuts. I waited for more to come at me, only to have Troy walk smiling over.

"You earned your colors today." He clasped my hand, doing one of those man-shakes I never understood.

"That's some impressive shit; the only other Saint who kicked ass like that was Johnny." Another man walked over and clapped me on the back.

"Shit, took me half the time." Johnny smiled cockily at me. I blinked back at him unable to speak past my dry throat. Apparently the Saints were just chock full of hot guys. Julius stood before the crowd giving a speech while all I could think what the hell did I just get into?


	2. Chapter 2

I was torn between punching Troy in the face or just out right flashing him. It was really starting to get to me that none of these jackasses realized I was female. Miss J had warned me to let them know in a nice way, realize their mistake on their own as they might get angry thinking I meant to make fools of them. I hadn't worn any makeup today and my clothes had been more gender neutral but no one said anything. I had caught Dex looking at me several times but he didn't say anything.

Since puberty had kicked my ass, making me the tallest girl in school and forgetting the rest of the girly stuff, I had been overly sensitive on my lack of feminine traits, which included my damn voice. It was one of the reasons I had never cut my hair, always dressed overly provocative and learned to do everything in stilettos.

The two of us were walking to his car to do some shit; I was too busy fuming to pay attention really.

"Hey kid, you drive?"

"Not very well, plus I don't have my license." He laughed at my answer.

"Kid, you're in a gang now, legalities are the least of your problems." He shook his head at me as I buckled up. "Man, you have a lot to learn. Where you from anyhow?"

"Family's from Bordeaux but I've lived in New Orleans since I was five."

"Surprised you have such a thick accent."

"My parents refused to let me speak English at home. I will kill the first person who makes a frog joke or that damn laugh." I gripped the bar over the window as he took a sharp turn. "For fuck's sake, is there some emergency I don't know of?"

"Listen kid," he paused as he looked at me. "What the hell is your name anyhow?"

"Angelique Montague." I almost stumbled over my last name, still not used to the change.

"Angelique? What's that like little Angel in French?"

"Petit ange is little angel. Angelique means messenger of god."

"Good thing you joined the Saints then." The car came to an abrupt stop leaving me thankful I had put the belt on. "You got a nickname, yours sounds too much like a girl's name." I could only blink at him. There was no way anyone could be this dense. "Just saying." He shrugged as he got out. We were at a store called Friendly Fire. The shops in this city were so weirdly named. The owner of the store nodded to Troy when we walked in. "Okay, let's get you a piece."

"I have a gun already." I picked up some ammo, dropping it on the counter. He held out his hand, I sighed and gave him my gun. He checked it over, scrapping a nail over a spot of blood I missed, popping out the empty clip.

"You've been carrying around an empty gun? What were you going to do, throw it at people?"

"Sometimes the threat of violence is more effective than actual violence." I shrugged as I put it back in its holster.

"There's dried blood on this, when was the last time you cleaned it?"

"I don't know how to clean a gun, it was mon père." At his look, I rushed to correct myself. "Sorry, father's, it was his. Can you teach me?"

"Yeah, not a problem." He stared at me for a moment, he must have seen something on my face as he looked away clearing his throat. I turned away and handing the owner money for the ammo.

"ID." I handed it to him, watching in humiliation as he turned it sideways, a telltale sign of how young I was.

"Wait, how the fuck old are you?" Troy yelled at me, reaching for my ID from the owner, I snatched it out of his hands before he could look at it. He grabbed my wrist and tried to pry it out of my hand. I punched him in response, knocking him into a display.

"What happened to not sweating the legalities, Troy?" I mocked him.

"Its not about legalities, the Saints don't have little kids running around killing."

"Call me a kid again and I will kick your ass seven ways to Sunday." I growled.

"She's almost eighteen, just calm your tits Troy. Now are you buy for her or not? I can't legally sell to a kid." The fact I was almost an adult seemed to calm him. He took my money, adding in a cleaning kit and two more boxes of ammo. He didn't say a word to me as he moody left the store ahead of me. It wasn't until we were both in the car that he finally spoke.

"Where the fuck are your parents?" I just looked at him in disgust.

"A couple of weeks ago, my father stuck that gun in his mouth and blew his fucking head off." I fished out my last pack of cigarillos ignoring him as I lit up. I could feel his eyes on me as I smoked.

"Shit, sorry." I turned, glaring at him.

"I don't need your fucking pity." I snarled at him. "You want to do me a favor get me another goddamn pack of cigarillos, no one will sell them to me." I tapped my smoke, letting the ashes fly in the wind. "Now was a point to this fucking excursion or not?" My surliness amused him.

"We're going to clear out some VK's from the area." He went to start the car but stopped and stared at me intensely. He muttered something under his breath before reaching out and taking my chin in hand. He turned my face one way then another, he ran his thumb over my lower lip. Blood rushed to my checks fast enough to make me feel dizzy and my stomach full of butterflies. "Huh, can't believe I didn't see it earlier, explains the name." He turned away almost killing us as he pulled into traffic.

XXX

"Oh, look at this cracker rolling up in here. Another faggot bitch here get their ass kicked." One of the VKer's said when they saw Troy's colors. They were ignoring me so far, probably due to my neutral colors.

"Oh shut up." I muttered as I shot the loud mouth in the chest, there was a sickening wet sound as the bullet went through him. The other rushed out, firing their guns, all held sideways and shooting like stormtroppers. The one that I shot had had a bat, picking it up I started breaking knees, followed by blows to the head. The sidewalk was painted with blood and thicker fluids as the VK's died. I leaned against a wall, my heart raced as adrenaline rushed through my system. That had felt good, so very good. The feel of the bat as it connected had sent vibrations up my arms, the sound of the pained grunts had been like music and the way the light in their eyes died as they did was… orgasmic. I had always enjoyed fighting growing up, especially once I started winning the fist fights. This had felt better than any time with my boyfriends. I watched Troy, my eyes half closed as I rode my high as he looted the bodies. I was hoping he was going to give me some of that money. That ammo and stuff had taken me down to my last twenty.

"You okay?"

"I'm fan-fucking-tastic." I giggled as I light up another cigarillo.

"Jesus, you look like you just got fucked." He shook his head at me.

"Troy, if getting fucked left me feeling this good, I wouldn't get out of bed, or against a wall, or off my knees." I drawled as pushed off the wall. "We should totally hit Freckle Bitch's. Let's the VK's car, not like they're going to need it." I took the keys off one of the bodies and tossed them to him. As we got in the car he shook his head.

"You've obviously been fucking the wrong people."

"You offering to fix that?" I teased. The look he gave me was a strange one, like he had no idea how to answer that. He looked away, focusing on the road, managing not hit anything.

"Have you ever killed before?"

"Nope but let me tell you, that definitely won't be the last time." I could feel a goofy smile on my face.

"Jesus, just what we need in the world, a female Gat."

XXX

A/N: The bit about Ang's ID may need some explaining for those who do not live in areas that do this. Where I live, they make the IDs for under 21 read from top to bottom instead of left to right, this makes it easier to card people as you can tell just from a glance.


	3. Chapter 3

Growing up, I never had a need to learn marketable skills. I had grown up with the knowledge that one day I would have access to my sizable trust fund. A trust fund that had given me monthly stipends reasonable enough that I could have been living in one of the nice places of this city had my father not screwed everything up.

Finding out that I had some skill that was worthwhile to others made me feel the best I had in months. Today was shaping up to be the best day ever. Troy still hadn't explained what his comment about me being like Gat meant yet, but if I was reading it right, apparently it was a bad thing. I watched him as he talked on his cell outside the restaurant, every so often he would look at me before glancing away shaking his head. The high from killing had finally dissipated, leaving me feeling hollow and really freaking embarrassed. I couldn't believe what I had said to Troy, I could barely look him in the eye now. The more time that passed, the more I wanted to hide under the table.

There were reasons I didn't engage in recreational drugs or drink often, I became a babbling idiot. My sister was the same way when she was high, so giggly and practically bouncy. I wasn't a prude when it came to sex, it was impossible to be when I had grown up in a house with two sluts; I just never actively sought it. Almost every encounter I had with guys only happened because of liquid courage. I blamed him for this. I didn't let people touch me often or ever really. When he rubbed my lip like he did, it had sent shivers down my spine and also… I sifted in my seat. Yeah, it had left me soaking. Was it just from the killing that left me feeling this way? Could you become aroused from killing? Was it a combo? I wished I could talk to her and find out if this feeling was normal. Killing those people should bother me, shouldn't it? I should not be sitting here thinking about sex. I should be here thinking about my immortal soul and the consequences of murder. I couldn't finish that thought without snickering.

"You didn't eat any of my fries did you?" Troy asked as he slid in to the booth across from me.

"Nope." I said as I reached over and took a few fries from him.

"Touch my fries again and I'll put you over my knee." He threatened me with a fry. I felt myself blush, unable to form a reply as my mind supplied a graphic image of the two of us naked; me sprawled across his lap and I bet under those clothes, he would be fit. "Are you blushing?" His laugh made it worse. I looked away from him, only to have him turn my face back to him. "Well shit you are."

"Shut up." I slapped his hand away causing him to laugh more and my blush to worsen. Was it possible to dying from embarrassment?

"You're adorable." I groaned and hid my face in my hands. I felt more than saw him get up. I peeked up at him, still hiding my blushing face. He threw our trash away and motioned for me to follow. "So why are you dressed as a guy? You a dyke?" He asked once we were outside.

"What? No! Other people's vaginas are weird and disgusting; the only one I ever want to see or play with is my own." I literally felt nauseous of the idea of me with another girl. The one and only time I had tried it, it had ended embarrassingly. "It's not like I like dressing like this, it's just that most people don't pay attention to me when I'm like this, you wouldn't have noticed if that teller hadn't said anything."

"I would have notice eventually." He tilted my chin up and did that thing again where he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. "Even though you pitch your voice lower, you still squeak like a girl. Plus your hands are too soft for a guy."

"I do not squeak."

"Yeah you do. Look kid, you're a Saint now, you don't have to hide if you don't want to. We take care of our own." He put his arm around me, hugging me to his side. I slapped his hand away when he ruffled my hair. "Come on, we're meeting up with Julius. I got a tip a little war is breaking out. It's a perfect time to take back the Row."

XXX

Maybe it was just me, but when fighting rival gangs, one shouldn't wear nothing but your colors as it made you a target. The gangs didn't really look at each, just the see the colors and take a shot. The streets were a mess, all three gangs running around killing each other. It was easier to wait for the other gangs to be distracted and shoot them in the back than to make myself an active target. The last of them went down or ran from the area, just as I heard sirens.

"Kid, let's go." Julius called out to me. The three of us piled into the car and I held on for dear life as Troy drove. After ten minutes I was pretty sure I would have rather have the cops arrest me than be in the car. We parked outside the church, I sat down on the broken wall taking deep breaths. "You did good kid, you okay?"

"His driving is going to kill me. Seriously how the hell did you ever get a license?"

"Easy, I never bothered getting one." He laughed at the expression on my face. "Come on, speech time." The church was full of saints with Julius standing up by the altar. As he gave his speech, I had to hand it to him, he was charismatic, his speech even made me feel a little bit excited. I listened as he doled out assignments to his people, Troy objected to handling the Vice Kings while Johnny seemed more than happy to take his place, he seemed a little too happy to have the chance to kill people. The others didn't seem to judge him for it either. Maybe I could talk to him about what happened?

A woman named Lin was put in charge of the Rollerz, I almost cheer when she punched the asshole that made a joke at her and Johnny was right, she did throw her shoulder too much. "So who's the new girl?" She asked jerking a finger at me. I fought the urge to duck my head as everyone looked at me. "Wait, you guys seriously didn't realize?" She started laughing.

"She looks like a guy, its not like we were going to double check."

"No wonder Aisha left you Johnny."

"That's a low blow." The Saints kind of wandered way after that, Johnny went off with Lin, the two of them talking in hushed tones. Dex took off with Julius talking over some plans. I didn't know what to do and stood there like a spaz.

"Come on Ang, I'll give you a lift home." Troy called over to me.

"Ang? Seriously?" I glared at him. I hated nicknames.

"No one is going to remember Angelique, they'll all end up calling you Angel or Angie or something like that. Ang fits, it shortens your name and doubles for Angel."

"Over my dead body." I growled.


	4. Chapter 4

"You really live in this shithole?" Troy said as he brushed past me as I unlocked the door. I had accepted the ride home but I hadn't invited him in. I watched him in amazement at how bold he was as he looked over my place.

"Come in Troy, make yourself at home." I said as sarcastically as possible.

"Thanks I will." My place was tiny, I barely had room for the bed that came with the place as it was, I had to be careful when opening the oven as I had already burnt one blanket already. "Seriously, could this place be any smaller?" He said as he sat down on my bed, which really was the only place to sit as it took up half the place.

"It's not easy finding a place that rents to minors." I closed the door, fighting the urge to slam it. He was starting to really get on my nerves. I ignored him as I moved into the kitchen area and took out my last bottle of brandy from the cupboard that was next to empty.

"Do you want a glass?" I tried not to sigh when he said he did. I had only offered it out of politeness. I poured two glasses and sat down on the other side of the bed after handing it to him. I left like a bug under a magnifying glass as he watched me, this was a level of awkward I had never experienced before. I stared at him in horror as he downed half the snifter in a gulp. "What the hell are you doing?" I snatched the glass away from him. "You do not drink brandy like that." I cradled the glass glaring at him.

"It's just liquor, Ang."

"Brandy is a sipping drink, you want to go down something, go drink whiskey or something." I handed it back to him. "You hold the glass like this and gently swirl it, letting it become warmer." I showed him the proper way. "You take sips of it, letting the flavors embrace you." I took a sip of mine, savoring the taste of raisins and burnt caramel. This was one of my favorite brandies, the Spanish knew their stuff.

"I've got nothing." He said after a moment.

"Philistine." I bitched at him. We sat in silence the two of us drinking. After a few minutes I started feeling better and not so anxious. "So why did you have to follow me home?"

"It was your first time; I wanted to make sure you were okay. Some people take killing badly."

"How did you take it?" He shrugged, moving further onto the bed so that he could lean against the wall.

"Didn't really think too hard about it, most of what we do is self preservation. These gangs would kill us faster than we can blink, I see no problem with killing them first." He finished off his drink. "You got more?" I rolled my eyes and retrieved the bottle.

"Along with another pack, you are going to owe me another bottle."

"Yeah, yeah. I can spare a few bucks for it." The dismissive way he said it made me wish I could see his face when he realized how expensive the stuff really was. "Some people take killing badly, knew a guy who blew his open head off after his first time, couldn't handle the guilt." I looked away from him, recalling how wonderful it had felt. "Stop that."

"What?"

"You were chewing on your lip, its distracting." He reached over and I grabbed his hand before he could run his thumb over said lip.

"Don't do that." His smile made me blush again. "I enjoyed killing them." I confessed quickly. "I never felt anything like it." My breath caught in my throat. "I should be feeling guilty but I don't." I left out the part where I was aroused by it. I still wasn't sure if it was from the killing or him. "There's something wrong with me, isn't there?" He moved the bottle out of the way and scooted close to me so that he could put his arm around me, I ended up with my head on his chest. It had been a long time since anyone had held me and I couldn't help relaxing against him.

"Nothing's wrong with you Ang." He ran his a hand through my hair. "People have been killing each other ever since there was more than one. We just started enforcing morals against killing so we'd feel guilty about it and not wipe everyone out. You only feel guilty because that's what you've been taught." His answer made sense. I had heard similar arguments in my philosophy classes and it had made sense there too. He kept stroking my hair as we just sat there in silence. It was silly but he made me feel safe, I hardly knew him. I felt myself growing tired, the steady beating of his heart lulling me to sleep. I felt him run his knuckles against my cheek and say my name.

"Sorry." I said as I sat up. "Long day."

"I know what you mean." He got off the bed and smiled down at me. "Come to the church tomorrow." He said as I walked him to the door. "No more hiding either. I want to see you, the real you. Got me?" He tipped my chin up. "I bet you're cute when clean up." He kissed me on the cheek before turning to leave.

XXX

One of the things that always calmed my anxiety was cleaning. Cleaning always had a visible effect on the world around me; it was probably why I was always a slob. Couldn't find Babette again? Oh look, my tiny bathroom was sparkly clean and smelling of lemons. Fridge empty because I was out of money? Geez golly whiz, my floor was now waxed and all my light fixtures were pristine.

Joining the Saints and wanting to make an impression? Every piece of jewelry shone and my leather shoes were treated and my closet color coordinated. Trying to figure how what the hell happened last night and can't? I got nothing. My place was already spotless and there was nothing left for me to do.

I wanted to look good today, more than that, with Saint protection I could be myself. I mourned my long hair but it had been necessary, as it was my hair wanted to poof up leaving me cursing my genetics for not having ma mere hair. Her hair had been black as night and so silky as typical of those of Indian descent. Babette had inherited it while I had Papa's curly ginger. Without the mass amount of gel I looked like orphan Annie. I searched my makeup case for anything purple, and like I thought, found nothing, with my coloring I usually stuck to neutrals. I ended up only using lip stick that gave my lips a permanent wet look to them. Maybe that would discourage Troy from playing with my lip. My outfit du jour was a black spaghetti top and a black pleated skirt that came down just far enough to leave me something to sit on. It was all topped off with my favorite pair of patent leather stilettos.

I gave an experimental whirl in front of the mirror and smiled at the result. There was no way anyone was going to mistake me for a man today. I picked up my bag and skipped out of my place.

XXX

"Have you seen any of the lieutenants by chance?" I asked one of the saints as soon I stepped into the church. Unfortunately it was the saint that Lin had punched yesterday.

"Tell you what sweet thang, I'm man enough to handle your needs." I barely managed not to roll my eyes as he stepped up to me walking in that weird swagger some men did. "You looking sweet, how about you give me some sugar?" I replied in what was the most appropriate way: I punched him. I had put enough force behind it that he fell on his ass; I stood over him and held my foot against his throat.

"Let me explain something to you. Not every woman likes being harassed; you couldn't arouse me even if I beat you to death with your own arm." I smiled down at him as his face started to turn red.

"You would have thought after Lin kicked his ass, he would learn." A voice behind me startled me enough that I took my foot off of him. He rolled away, coughing and choking in air. I turned to find the badger guy behind me. Johnny was his name I think. "Get your ass out of here." He growled at the guy who scrambled out. He looked me over in a very blatant way that made me blush. "I know you from somewhere don't I?"

"I'm the new girl, the one you didn't realize was a girl." I teased.

"Right, Troy said your name was Ang." I gritted my teeth.

"My name is Angelique."

"Nah, I'll stick with Ang. Don't you own anything other than black?"

"Of course I do but I have a theory, you ever notice that the gangs don't look at you, they just look at the colors? Dressed like this, they take a moment to figure you out."

"Yeah, I see what you're saying. You looking like that, they wouldn't realize you're a threat until it was too late." He smiled at me. "You could get nice and personal. I like it. Shame I can't use the same tactic." His eyes wandered over me again before waving me to follow. "Come on, we got work to do. You ain't getting paid to be pretty."

"Wait, I get paid?" I asked as I followed only to hear him laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

Three buses and an hour later, I found myself standing outside of Ultor Dome. I would have been there sooner but finding my way around this city was hell. Johnny's directions really hadn't helped.

"It's the big fucking dome, how can you miss it?" I mocked him aloud. "Easy, I'm not from the city you goddamn badger."

"I see someone's met Johnny, guessing his shit directions made you so late?" Lin smiled as she walked up to me. "You got a cig?" I held out my pack for her. "Thanks kid, I'm swear I'm this close to killing every one of them misogynist motherfuckers." She looked me up and down. "How can you walk in those things?"

"Hey, I can outrun a two dollar whore dodging her pimp. How do you keep from popping out?"

"Practice." She cracked a smile. "I'm guessing no one mistook you for a guy today?"

"Surprisingly no. Did almost kill one of the crew though." She shook her head in disgust.

"I bet I know who it was too." She took a moment to light up the cigarillo I gave her. "Johnny give you a phone?" I held up the fancy smart phone he had tossed to me before I left. She took it from me and started doing something with it. "There's shipment of high performance cars coming in today. You're going to jack the truck with the cars and take them here to our boy Samson. He'll load up the cars with a few surprises, then you deliver them. Got it?"

"Sounds good but I have to point out one flaw with your plan." She glared at me.

"What's the problem?"

"I don't know how to drive." The look on her face was almost comical.

"Are you fucking shitting me? How the hell don't you know how to drive? What did you grow up in a cave? How the hell did you get over here from the church?"

"Uh, the bus?"

"Look its easy, left is brake, right is gas, just keep the wheel straight and don't jerk it too hard." She tossed the phone back to me. "Get some driving lessons from someone but whatever you do, don't let Troy teach you to drive." I watched her leave trying to figure out how I was supposed to do all this. I checked over the instructions Lin had put in the phone. I would need to a car to get to the truck. Now how to get a car?

XXX

"Wow, that's like the prettiest car ever." I pitched my voice higher and twirled a strand of hair around my fingers while donning my most vacant expression. I felt like I should be wearing a blond wig to pull this off right. I was hoping that Lin's assessment of the Rollerz extended to all of them as I chatted up the ugliest one in the parking lot, his car was the only one that looked to be automatic. "It's so shiny."

"It's more than shiny baby girl. This here is a beast." He rambled off some car stats, I didn't have to pretend not to understand.

"Wow, that's like so totally cool. You know, blue's my favorite color." I giggled, I bit my nail while I ran my hand up my thigh, pulling up my skirt a tad. "Think you could give me a nice ride?"

"Hell yeah, girl, where you need to go?"

"Oh not far but I get so tired off walking, I much prefer to ride." I resisted rolling my eyes as he bought the act and opened the car door for me. The car was an automatic with leather interior that stuck to my thighs as I sat down. The car roared as he started it, smiling sleazily at me. I gripped the bar over my seat as he peeled out. I waited until the arena was out of sight and we were stopped at red light before I slipped my gun out of it's holster. "Oh wow, what's that?" I pointed out his window, when he looked I held the gun to the back of his head. "You have a choice, you can get out on your own or I dump your body out."

"Yo you stupid bit-" I pulled the trigger as he reached for his gun, blood and thicker things splattered everywhere. I worked my jaw trying to pop my now deaf ears before pushing his body out of the car after ripping off his bandana. As I wiped blood off myself, I pulled up the phone's GPS and tried my hand at driving.

XXX

"Hey you aren't the usual guy, where's Henry?" A Rollerz asked as I hopped down out of the truck. I raised a brow at him, the guy who had been driving until I pushed him out over the bridge had been named Cid according to his jumpsuit.

"Look, I don't ask questions, I just deliver the cars. Now are you going to sign this or do I have to get someone else to do it?" I snapped in my most authoritative tone I could manage.

"What happened to your grill?"

"You know what I don't need this. I quit." I tossed him the clipboard before leaving the guy standing there. Hopefully the act had been good enough for them to buy. Driving the truck had been insane, I didn't know the first things about gears and had just stuck to what it had been in when I hijacked the thing. I was hoping they would chalk it up to a woman driving if I had ruined it. I ran a hand through my hair, grimacing when I came across a piece of… I looked closer at the bit. I didn't have a clue what it was. I tossed it away from me shuddering as I walked. I opened the envelope the guy had given me when I parked the truck, inside was $500, looks like food was back on the table. The phone I was given was a lifesaver, internet, GPS, full of useful numbers and Angry Birds. I had originally meant to look up food markets but found myself playing Angry Birds. I was in the middle of level 8-10 when I arrived back at the church. I sat down on a tombstone trying to finish the level before I went inside; the damn birds were giving me problems. After four level restarts, I finally killed all the damn pigs but before the victory music could come up a text popped up exiting the game. "No you son of a whore!" The text was from Lin asking me to meet up with her at some nightclub later. I checked the time, I had enough time to get showered and most importantly finish this level again before meeting up with her.

XXX

"What are you a little kid? Can you put that game down for five minutes and pay attention?" Lin snatched the phone out of my hands. She pressed a few buttons and gave it back. She deleted my save file.

"You are a mean Lady."

"Yes, I've risen in rank in the Saints by my ability to destroy a gamer's hopes and high scores." She took my hand and dragged me out to the dance floor where she put her arms around me. "Nice work earlier. I had to listen to those assholes for an hour about some bitch ruining their truck."

"So they didn't notice anything?"

"Not a thing. I did hear word of one of their boys found dead on the road though."

"You weren't kidding about them being misogynist, I put on the fakest valley girl act and he just bought it. I did the world a favor."

"The Rollerz aren't known for their smarts." She smiled.

"They know who did it?"

"All they know is he went off with some black chick and was found dead." It was one of my biggest pet peeves to be called black. "You're going to blow their world kid." She gave me the rundown on what had been done to the cars and how we were going to use them.

"Maybe someone else should do the racing?"

"I got you some back up, the perfect person to piss off all the racers. Thanks for the dance kid, appreciate the colors." She remarked on my blue skirt and white top. I had figured that it would help her stay undercover if she I met her in the Rollerz' colors. I ordered a drink at the bar, only to get carded and served a non-alcoholic drink instead. Grumbling I walked out wondering who the annoying person could be.


	6. Chapter 6

Every day you learn something new. Today I was learning so many new things: driving, how to use a fine tooth comb to get brain and bone out of my hair and that it wasn't killing that had turned me on. Sure killing made my pulse race, making me feel like queen of the world but it wasn't what had got my panties soaked. Much to my horror it was Troy, Lin's so called perfect person to piss people off. My reaction to him was horrifying if only because I couldn't control it, the last guy I had gone gaga over was my first boyfriend three years ago and goddamn it I was mature enough not to let some guy effect me.

"Jesus, I'm pretty sure that outfit is illegal in at least three states and those colors have to go." Troy said when he looked me over. Just like my last outfit, my skirt was scandalously short but my new shirt was off one shoulder and only fell to just below my navel. The look in his eyes was so blatant leaving me unsure if I should strike a pose or run for cover. "And what's this?" He stepped up to me, lifting my shirt to expose my navel ring. He ran his fingers over the ring, pulling gently on it. "Didn't know On Thin Ice sold something like this, looks expensive." I slapped his hand away.

"It's platinum and onyx bought by an ex." I snapped. "I do not wear cheap shit."

"And it just happens to be a fleur-de-lis?"

"He was a huge football nut." He gave me a blank look. "The New Orleans Saints? Look you can play cop while we drive." I took the keys out of his hand and got in the driver's seat, he gave me a look as he got in, hitting the lighter as he buckled up. Since he had made fun of me doing it earlier I wondered if I should be offended.

"What was that suppose to mean?" The look he gave me reminded me of an offended cat.

"You ask far too many questions Troy and you're too damn grabby by half. I keep waiting for you to do strip search on me."

"No offence kid, but you're the last person I'd strip search." He said as he lit his cig. Oh now he wanted to be nasty. I took petty pleasure into taking a sharp turn making him slam against his belt, causing him to drop his newly lit cig. "Fuck! Watch the driving." He swatted at the ashes, keeping himself from burning.

"Sorry, still learning how." I smiled sweetly at him. I purposely slammed on the brakes at a red light, jerking him again. "It's only my third time driving."

"How the fuck do you not know how to drive?" The tone of his voice made it seem I had committed a cardinal sin.

"You have to have parental permission to take anything driving related. My father refused to sign off on it. 'Young ladies are simply not meant to drive, Angelique. If you require a ride, I will procure you one.'" I mangled my father's Oxford accent.

"Maybe I should drive then."

"Your job is to piss off the other drivers and get them to use whatever it is. You're really good at pissing people off." I pulled up to the place where the race was supposed to start, there were three other cars, the drivers sitting around talking. I was stuck sitting here with the idiot until it started. There was an awkward silence only broken by the drumming of my nails on the wheel.

"I don't like the idea of Lin going undercover, you roll with people long enough and pretty soon you start thinking like them." Troy remarked as he watched the Rollerz.

"If five years of catholic primary and two years of boarding school taught me anything it's that if you really hate people, no amount of pretending to be their friends will actually make you like them."

"Boarding school? What did you do say a bad word to Daddy?" He mocked me.

"Actually he caught me fucking two guys in my parent's bed." I smiled when he started choking on his smoke. "Oh look the race is starting."

XXX

The race went beautifully, the Rollerz had been bothered by Troy's lame ass taunts and like magic boom they went. I drove back to the church, only rear ending three cars and making him swear no less than nine times. As soon as I stopped he reached over and yanked the keys out.

"You are never driving again." He unbuckled. "You are never getting near a car ever again if I can help it." He stomped out of the car looking pissed. I barely contained my laughter. Our phones both beeped, a text from Dex telling us to meet up with him.

"Need a lift?" I smiled at him.

"That's my car not yours, now get the hell out of my seat."

"Come on, please? I'm having fun driving." He opened my door and jerked his thumb at me.

"Out." I pouted before climbing over to the passenger side, I heard him curse when I ended up flashing him my thong. "Jesus kid, you can't do shit like that."

"What, ask to drive?" I asked innocently as I buckled up.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No idea Troy." I drew out his name as I ran a hand up my thigh pulling up my skirt to a more obscene level. "You should really keep your eyes on the road." I pointed out when I caught him looking.

"Goddamn kid."

XXX

Not only did Freckle Bitches' make wonderful burgers, they almost made fantastic milkshakes. I had been more than happy to make the food run, with Troy's money, while the guys got themselves set up. Dex and him were talking over a map when I came back over, I was waved over to look at the map. Putting the food down, I hopped on the table sitting cross-legged in front of it. Troy looked me over and shook his head. Reaching into my backpack I pulled out my reading glasses so that I could see what they were pointing to.

"Seriously, those are some ugly ass glasses." I looked at Troy over the hot pink rims.

"I've got a great idea Troy, how about you go fuck yourself?" I smiled sweetly. Dex looked back and forth between us.

"It'd be a lot better and legal than fucking you."

"Look whatever issues the two of you have deal with it on your own time. Right now we're working on the Carnales, got it?" He glared at both of us. "Now you were saying."

"Fine, I got a lead where the Los Carnales cut all their shit."

"The Carnales." Dex and I both corrected him at the same time. He gave me a look of appreciation.

"What?"

"Rio Grande River. Jesus."

"What the fuck?"

"It's not THE Los Carnales, it's just the Carnales. Los means... fuck it. She fucking gets it."

"Yeah, well she's a fucking frog, the two languages are practically the same."

"I swear I'm going to punch him, Dex."

"Like I was saying, we're not going to raid the factory quite yet."

"Why not?"

"Cause I'm not a gun toting psychopath named Johnny Gat."

"Fair enough. So what's the plan?"

"One of my boys called and said they saw a truck with a heavy LC escort leaving the factory District. It's probably loaded with drugs, but that's just a bonus, our target is the truck itself. I need it brought back to the Row in one piece; it's no good to us blown to shit."

"What you need the truck for?"

"Let's just get the truck first, then I'll tell you the rest of the plan."

"I'm just saying' it'd be nice to know."

"Shit, Troy, what's with all the questions?"

"See even Dex agrees you ask too many." Troy glared at me.

"Just get me that truck and try not to kill each other." Dex said as he rolled up the map and took his food. "Better yet, the two of you should just get it over with and fuck." After a moment, Troy sat down at the table and dug into his food.

"So I'm trying to figure out if you're pissed because I compared you to a cop or because I have an ex." I finally broke the silence between us. I got off the table and sat down next to him instead and stole a few of his fries. He grabbed my wrist before I could eat them.

"What did I tell you?"

"Maybe you should spank me then you can get whatever the hell is wrong out of your system." He let go of my wrist like it burned him.

"My problem is I have a little kid flaunting herself in front of me." He snapped at me.

"Right, I forgot, when I turn 18 my vagina magically accommodates adults and my body is now socially acceptable to be ogled at and you won't have to be ashamed that you've been eye fucking me. I'll make sure I have a ribbon cutting ceremony next month with a banner that says 'Now accepting adult riders.' Get the fuck over yourself. We have work to do and I'm driving."


	7. Chapter 7

The ride to the factory was quiet, apparently he had nothing to say now. Unable to stand the quiet, I turned on the radio, switching between several stations until I found a good one.

"How can you listen to this shit, much less know all the words?" He interrupted me during the chorus of Hate.

"I'm sure your taste in music is so much better." He shut up again, lighting up his fifth smoke in the last half hour. I could only imagine how much he spent on smokes each month.

"Do you seriously carry extra clothes?" I felt his eyes travel over me.

"Only skirts, white kind of goes with everything. I figured since we're doing something in the Carnales' territory, it'd be worth changing."

"You need to start representing."

"I will once I'm a better shot. So what's the plan?"

"You cover me while I jack it and I'll drive it back to the row. I doubt we'll have a lot of trouble this time of night. You're right about the colors too, sit out in the open and hopefully any of the Los Carnales that drive by will ignore you." He gave me a look when I opened my mouth to correct him. "Just between you and me I was fine with cleaning out the Row, but getting into this drug shit ain't cool. Someone should talk some sense into Julius." I glanced at him, the look in his eyes and the set of his jaw told me he was dead serious. I chewed on my lip as I thought about what he said. I hadn't planned on talking to any of the Saints about Babette until I had earned their trust but Troy obviously didn't want me involved with the gang since he found out my age and with his dislike of drugs maybe he would help me. "Stop that." He snapped at me. Right, he had issues when it came to lip chewing.

"I don't like drugs either; my older sister's an addict. She's the reason why I came to Stilwater."

"What's her name?"

"Babette, if you go in my pack, there's a picture in my wallet." He reached over and started going through my pack, shaking his head at the extra clothes inside before pulling out my wallet. I had a moment of panic, remembering I had told him the truth of where I grew up as my ID was from Pennsylvania and not Louisiana. I didn't think he noticed it as he only pulled out Babette's picture.

"You two look nothing alike." He said after looking at it for a moment.

"Yeah, I know. She's the pretty one." I was use to hearing it that it hardly bothered me anymore. "We're here." I got out of the car, trying to be inconspicuous as Troy broke into the truck. I sat on the hood, smoking a cigarillo watching the road. I heard him curse and mutter as he worked on the truck. "Hurry up Troy." Several reds drove by barely giving me a second glance.

"Hey, you want to do it? I knew I should've paid attention when they were teaching hotwiring." He grumbled. A car that had just passed a minute ago came around again, this time the reds inside staring intently at me. I slid my gun out as a car with two reds pulled up, they hopped out with guns drawn, I barely made cover before they started shooting, there was a burning in my left arm as I ducked down. I returned fire but only hit their car, causing one of them to curse me out.

"Got it!" Troy yelled over to me as the truck started. He then fired two shots killing both of the reds. "You really do need to work on your aim. Let's go kid." I followed behind him; he drove like an old lady in that truck. I sent a prayer to the gods thanking them that I didn't have to learn how to shoot and drive today. I knew that Dex wanted the truck intact but for fuck's sake, this was ridiculous. The ride gave me time for my heart to calm down and notice I was dripping blood on the interior. I couldn't get a good look at it while I was driving. Finally after what seemed forever, we pulled up to the church.

"Could you drive any slower? Seriously when you're not driving like a maniac, you drive like my blind eighty year old grandmother." He ignored my comment as he looked me over. He pulled me over closer to one of the street lights, running his hand over my arm. When I went to turn my head to see the wound he turned my head away.

"Trust me, as soon as you see it, it'll start hurting like a bitch."

"It already burns."

"You're going to have a pretty scar there. Come on, I'll fix it up for you." The church was pretty quiet, a few Saints still hanging around at this late time. We ended up in a room that was stocked full of weapons and ammo. He waved me over to seat as he pulled out a huge first aid kit. "We keep this fully stocked; it's a running joke in the gang that Johnny gets hurt at least once a week. You got a choice, I can bandage it but you got to keep an eye on it or I can use this stuff but it's going to hurt a bit." I took the package of stuff off of him reading the instructions on the side. It would seal the wound, keeping it from getting infected and only burn a bit.

"I'd rather not have to worry about it." He cleaned the area around the wound, causing me to hiss. The wound was about two inches long and half an inch deep. It was steadily seeping blood and looked horrible. He was right, once I had a good look at it, it really started hurting me.

"You ready?" I nodded. He opened the package and poured what looked like red sand onto the wound. It felt like he had just poured acid on my skin. He held my arm steady as he pressed gauze over it. My eyes streamed with tears and I opened my mouth in a silent scream. It took about five goddamn minutes before the pain finally dissipated.

"You cunt, you said it would hurt a bit." I said when I could finally breathe past the pain.

"I'm impressed you didn't scream." He turned my face towards him, whipping away the tears that had formed. His warm hand cupped my cheek, his thumb rubbed over my lips. "I'm proud of you Ang." He smiled at me, his eyes on my lips. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. He pulled away from me, breaking the spell and focused on cleaning up and packing away the kit. "You sit there and relax. I'm going to go check in with Dex and then I'll take you home, okay?" I agreed, watching as he left.

He really needed to stop throwing mixed signals, half the time I was sure he wanted me but then he acted like he wanted to put me at the kids' table. He had a huge issue with my age, I didn't get it. I was old enough to kill and do other bad things but not sex stuff? Babette had often told me the problem with men was when their cocks were fighting for control over their actions while their brains disagreed. She had been my go-to for all things male growing up. She had set me down and explained everything, and I mean everything, on my thirteenth birthday when she found me making out with a guy. I didn't have her cavalier attitude when it came to sex; I was always a little tipsy before I could do it the first time. She was the one who explained that love and lust were every different things, making my dating life much easier. She would be the one who could look at Troy and tell me exactly what the hell was going on with him. I rested my head on my hands, closing my eyes for a minute. I missed my sister.

_Troy's hand cupped my cheek, pulling me close as he kissed me. His lips were warm and dry against mine, at his urging I opened my mouth to him. His pushed me against the wall, his body hard against mine. I felt a draft on my skin as he lifted my shirt running his hand over my stomach and up to cup my breast. I gasped against his lips as his fingers toyed with me. I ran my hands over his chest and unbuckled his belt. He grasped by hips, grinding me against him before turning me around and yanking down my thong._

"Hey, kid wake up." I jerked awake, my breath catching in my lungs. "You okay?" Troy cupped my chin, raising my head.

"Yeah, just a fucking nightmare." My cheeks heated with the double entendre.

"You sure?" I nodded as I followed him out to the car. Stupid fucking dream, now all I could think of was hopping on to his lap and kissing him. Gods, I needed a drink.

"Can you please pick me up a bottle and some smokes? I'm out of both."

"Bad habits kid."

"Yes, I'm really going to listen to the chain smoker." If I could get another bottle, maybe I could invite him over sometime and after a few drinks… I had to make an effort not to allow that thought full reign, I could think well enough about that when I was alone.

"I've trying to figure this out, I can understand two guys, but why in your parents bed?"

"In my defense, I was really drunk and it seemed like a grand idea." I really shouldn't have thrown that in his face, I just wanted him to realize I wasn't an innocent kid and the details of what happen were childish. "My father's a drunk, was a drunk. He never had time for anyone and when Mama died, he turned their room into a shrine. The day he kicked Babette out of the house, I just lost it, called up some friends, and had a party." I smiled bitterly. "People were more than happy to trash the house. He just found the aftermath, which included me in bed postcoitus." Fortunately, he pulled up to my place. "Thanks for the lift." I hopped out, needing to get away.

"Ang." He flicked away his cig before following after me. "I meant it, you did good today. Take a few days off and relax. When you come back, come see me or Johnny, one of use will teach you how to use that piece, okay?"

"I'm fine, I'll see you tomorrow." He caught my arm before I could turn away.

"I've been in this for a long time, trust me when I tell you to take a few days off. Pretty soon these few past days will seem like cakewalk."

"Fine, I have to do some shopping anyhow." I sighed. I guarantee you, he wouldn't be doing this to a guy.

"Be careful, okay?"

"I know Troy. I'm a big girl." He grasped the back of my neck, pulling me against him and kissed me. Unlike my dream, his lips were rough, he tasted of ash and tobacco. His hands were warm against the small of my back, gently kneading but not straying out of bounds of propriety, my own rested on his nape, my fingers shyly toying with his hair. I whimpered against his lips when he caught my lower lip between his teeth, gently sucking and biting it. When I tried to press closer to him, he backed off and pulled away from me.

"I'm well aware of that." It took a moment for my brain to process what he was talking about.

"Oh. Would you want to come in?" I stammered after a moment, my brain still not fully functioning. His eyes wandered over me before pulling out a cig and lighting up.

"Not for another month, kid. See you in a few days." He walked away. I stood there like an ass, trying to comprehend what the fuck just happened.

XXXX

A/N: For those who have never used Woundseal. Don't. I cannot express how goddamn horrible the burning pain is from that stuff. It is literally the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. Fun fact, it's geared especially towards the elderly. Also next chapter might be a while as Troy is giving me problems.


	8. Chapter 8

Kissing her had been a mistake, now all he could think about was bending her over the hood of his car and fucking her. Or her on her knees in front of him with those lips of hers around his cock. It had been over four years since he had gotten any that wasn't from a pro. He knew the rules when he signed up for this shit, no personal relationships, no girlfriends, nothing that would keep him from doing his job, but fuck, no one had warned him this would go on for this goddamn long. Shit, it had been so long since he had a decent fuck, he was worried he was going queer when he was attracted to Ang in her getup. Man, the relief he felt when he realized she was female. Her timing in joining the gang couldn't be better as he had been thinking of breaking the rules more and more.

As a rule there weren't many women in the gang, most of them just hung around for the protection that was offered or where in more support type roles, the only real female banger was Lin, besides from being a hard ass, she was too perceptive by half. Ang had several points in her favor, she was new to the city, so no police file on her yet and he would keep it that way, she was so new to the scene, he doubted she would be able to figure out what he really was. She had panicked him for a moment when she called him out; he needed to be more careful with his questioning of people. He knew her type, never getting enough attention growing up so she flaunted herself now, full of false bravado that covered up her insecurities that revealed themselves when pushed. He saw girls like her from rich families a lot, no amount of money could supplement good parents. He wouldn't have spotted the money issue if it wasn't for Dex pointing it out to him, one of his boys sold counterfeit items like she was wearing. He also knew she was lying to everyone.

She had left her wallet in his car, it only contained the picture, an ID and a social security card, both of which, after confirming with Dex where fake. The ID had misspelled one of the cities and the number belonged to some dead woman. Ang was running from something but what he didn't know. He wondered if her father's death had been suicide, she didn't seem too choked up about losing him and she wouldn't be the first girl from a bad family to kill. It would explain why her sister was an addict and her current lack of money.

"Got those IDs for you." Dex tossed them to him before joining him at the table. They were good quality and unlike the old ones would stand up to inspection and had her age as twenty-one. She could buy her own damn bottle after neglecting to mention how expensive her shit was. "You know, it's the strangest thing, she's not connected to any social media, not even MySpace, even my gran has Facebook."

"She probably changed her name to get rid of whatever trouble is following her, I'm just hoping it doesn't come back on us." He muttered as he got himself a cold beer from the icebox.

"You two work out your problem?"

"Yeah, you were right." He smiled to himself. "You should have seen her reaction." The two men shared a laugh as they set up for their weekly poker game.

"I'm disappointed in you, Troy." Julius said as he sat down.

"Nothing happened Julius; I haven't gone completely morally bankrupt that I would abuse my status like that. Give me a little credit." The head of the gang stared at him for a long moment.

"The special hell." He finally said before turning to Dex. "Where do we stand on everything?" Troy sat back as Dex took his moment to shine. Dex was every cop's wet dream, leaving a detailed paper trail on every activity, every gang member for both the Saints and the other gangs and a number of plans, a number of which always nixed by Julius.

"We lost three and two wounded from the raid by the Carnales. I'm working on a lead to get a doctor willing to work with us. We got the neighborhood pretty much locked down. I got some of our girls playing look out for us too."

"Good. What about the new recruits?"

"Eight total this week, problem is half of them are kids."

"Unfortunately, we need soldiers." Julius replied grimly. "Make sure none of them go out alone. I won't have baby gangers out there getting killed because they don't know shit."

"Understood, I suggest we get Johnny to start teaching some of our people how to fight better, I didn't think half of them would make it through their canonizations. Troy, you should help with the shooting and get us some more phones with whoever your hookup is. I'll keep working to get us more info and get our income more stable."

"Any word from Lin?"

"Nothing good. The Rollerz don't exactly respect women and she refuses to take the other route to rise up in rank."

"Shit man, could you see her actually doing that?" Troy asked shocked.

"No and if you repeat that to Lin, I'll kill you before she can kill me."

"She'll get the job done, like she always does. Now, where the hell is Johnny at?"

"Went for a munchies run." Johnny smiled as he entered with three brown bags full of snacks. "Would have been here sooner but I ran over some Carnales on my way back." After the first year in the gang, Johnny's casual attitude towards killing no longer bothered Troy. "Get ready to get your bitch asses kicked." He smirked as he sat back as Dex dealt the cards. The game was pretty even until several hours later when Julius left, when they could really play without worrying. Julius may be a great leader but sometimes he was a killjoy. Troy was down several hundred, never quite getting the hang of Dex's bluffs while Johnny was worse off as he played as aggressively as he did everything else. Most the games usually came down between Dex and Lin, at least without her here; he would go home without losing his shirt. "Took some of the new blood to get tats, I haven't seen that many tears since that last chick flick Eesh dragged me to." He took a swig of his beer. "Your girl did you proud, not a peep from her."

"What girl?" Troy asked mystified.

"Ang. You and Julius brought her in, so she's yours. I got to tell you, she kicked Leroy's ass again, I can't help but to wonder if she fucks as well as she fights."

"Too bad you'll never find out, she's queerer than a three dollar bill." The lie rolled off his tongue before he could stop it. Dex choked on his beer, coughing to cover his laughter. "I'm covering for her like Natalie did for Omar."

"Man, that was a mess with Omar." Natalie had been his beard for years. A week after coming out of the closet, he had been found dead, no one knew what happened, but they all had their suspicions. There was a somber moment before he broke it. "Damn fine waste of pussy there. Why can't all the dykes be ugly? Speaking of which how's your mom doing Dex?"

XXX

"I told you to take a few days off, not sneak back and try to pretend that you haven't been around." Troy snapped as soon as Ang opened the door. His head was killing him, even behind his shades, his eyes burned. He had planned to sleep some of the day away but she had texted him at eight asking if she could come back yet, not knowing that Johnny had inadvertently squealed on her.

"Morning to you to sunshine." She blinked at him, shielding her eyes from the morning light. "Coffee?" She asked as she let him in. He gratefully took her up on the offer, only to end up grimacing at the taste. Damn, shit had so much cream and sugar in it, he couldn't legally call it coffee any more. She obviously hadn't expected him to drop by, her hair was messy from sleeping, her face bare and wearing a yellow silk nightie that only came down to mid-thigh. On her neck was a brand new purple and white fleur-de-lis tattoo. He watched how she shot longing glances at the near empty bottle of brandy sitting on the counter and wondered if he should be offended or amused at her reaction. "So, who told you?" She finally asked after making her own cup, her nails tapping on it.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" He asked as he leaned against her countertop, blocking any form of escape.

"Yes. I was bored, there's only so much food shopping you can do and this city doesn't even have a library. I don't even own a TV." She whined. "I was going stir crazy. I was so bored I was about to start shooting the wall. I have nothing to do here except think about..." She trailed off, looking away from him. "Why the hell did you kiss me?" She snapped. He watched her as she paced in the small space, her nails beating a staccato on her mug as she chewed on her lip. He had always been a sucker for full lips.

"Want me to do it again?" He asked with an almost bored air, keeping a smile off his face at her reaction.

"Yes. No!" She took a deep breath. "I know I say a lot of stuff but the truth is I don't do casual, Troy. It gets awkward for me and I don't know how to act." She leaned against the wall, dropping her head in her hands. "Can you just leave before I make more of an ass out of myself?" He couldn't help smiling. He pulled her hand away, tipping her face up to his.

"You haven't had a lot of relationships have you?" She scoffed.

"Not many boys are interested in girls taller than them with fewer curves than a straight line and small tits."

"Now, you're just fishing for compliments." He chuckled at her blush. "I don't do casual either." He was surprised he got the lie out so well. "We'll go slow." He pressed a gentle kiss, backing off when she tried to deepen the kiss. "Slowly, Ang."

"What if I wanted faster?" She asked in a rush, a pretty blush on her face.

"Not going to happen." Her disappointed expression had him smiling. She looked away and bit her lip; she opened her mouth but closed it before any sound came out. "What's wrong?"

"Can we keep this between us?"

"You don't want the gang to know?" It was better than he could hope, the less people that knew about any relationship they developed, the less likely his people would find out.

"I want to earn my place for once in my life."

"And you don't want people thinking you're getting special favors because of me."

"Yes." Relief was evident on her face. "I'm sorry."

"No, I get it. We'll keep things separate, but when I give you an order, like taking a few days off, I expect you to listen to me." He cupped her cheek, forcing her to meet his eyes. "I mean it, this isn't a game. Not listening to me could get you hurt or worse."

"Sorry. I just really want to fit in and I thought you were treating me like a child."

"Treating you like a child is the last thing I want to do, Angel." He said as his eyes travelled over her.

"You ever call me that in public and I will hurt you." She said glaring at him as she pulled him down for a kiss.

XXX

A/n: Okay, so the next chapter might really take a while due to the fact that this weekend is the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and I plan on have way to many sonic screwdriver shots. Bonus points to anyone who can spot the references.


	9. Chapter 9

Growing up, etiquette was important; it was forced down my throat from day one. It was drilled into me when to speak, how to speak, when to apologize, how to walk, sit, smile and breathe. Every action had a rule. It was no wonder when I started acting out with booze and sex. Sex had been the ultimate fuck you to my father, it was classless and base act, a thing that required no talent, especially when I kept my mouth shut and let guys do the talking. Etiquette classes tend to reinforce the idea of ladies letting men do the talking as men were so much smarter than us.

Going against all my training helped me do a many of things, but they didn't help me figure out how to get Troy in my pants. After our talk, he had crashed on my bed sans shirt and shoes under the excuse of being tired. More like hungover. I didn't know quite how to deal with his entitled attitude, how he would just cross normal boundaries without hesitation. I had noticed that all three of the lieutenants were the same way. Maybe it came from earning their spots, I didn't know. Looking over at my brandy, I calculated how much I had left. Since he hadn't gotten me any as requested, I was running low. I had been using it mostly as a sleeping aid nowadays, just enough to quiet my mind, I would do horrible things right now for some Zannies or A-minus. There was not enough in there to give me enough courage to entice him, trying on my own would most likely result in ruin and then I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. My running thoughts were interrupted when a pillow hit me in the head, turning I found him glaring at me.

"I'm trying to sleep here." He snapped at me, holding his hand out for the pillow. I realized I had been tapping my nails and in the small room it tended to echo loudly. I gave him an apologetic look before handing over the pillow. He snatched it out of my hand, fluffing it before putting it behind his head and lying back down. "Come on, get some more sleep, it's too damn early." He held out his hand, with the way the bed was positioned, the only way for me to get in the bed was for him to either move over or for me to crawl over him. I was still tired, I hadn't expected him to show up after I had texted him. I knew from his expression I wasn't getting my bed back until he left. I took his hand, completely unprepared when he yanked me off balance. I ended up on top of him, I scrabbled to get off of him but ended up straddling him, my hands seemed stuck on his naked chest. My wide eyes meet his, the self-assured look in his eyes left me gasping or it could be his hands cupping my ass, the fingers of one stroking under my thong as he moved me so that I was pressed oh-so nicely against his cock.

"Troy." I barely managed to choke out as he rocked against me, leaving me whimpering. I picked up the rhythm, riding him, my nails digging into his chest as I approached a much needed climax. I was almost there when he pushed me off of him. I stared at him in shock, a whimper leaving my lips before I could stop it. The smile he gave me was beyond cocky and my lust damped brain couldn't comprehend what the hell just happened. My body ached with need and his cocky expression made me want to hit him. "What the hell?" I finally managed to get out.

"Payback for all the teasing you do." Considering the fact that my body practically hurt, his smile was downright cruel. My eyes were glued on him as he reached down to adjust himself, his eyes focused on my lips.

"You son of a whore."

"I promise to finish it, if you stick around until next month." He reached out, cupping my face as he ran his thumb over my lip. "'Course you could always finish yourself." I felt my cheeks heat, the blood rushing so fast to different parts I felt dizzy. I turned giving him my back, listening to him chuckle.

XXX

"I think he's dead, chica." I glared at the Saint talking to me, Julio was his name. "Seriously, no one told me I was rolling with a mini-Gat."

"Why does everyone kept saying that like it's a bad thing?" I shook off the bat, trying to get some of the blood off. I grimaced, squatting down, I used the dead red's shirt to wipe it off. I had been put on distraction duty with Julio, not having been picked for the raid on the Carnales' drug factory. It was our jobs to cause problems in the Carnales' territory before the raid went down. It had been part of Dex's great plan, distract the enemy and once they were, his crew would go in and claim the place.

"Maybe because Gat is the toughest, scariest motherfucker out there." He gestured at the bodies. "And that's something that he would have done." Between the two of us, there were six bodies, two of which, I had caved the heads in with my bat. I may have taken some of my anger out on the last two. I smiled at him.

"Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment." There was a squeal of tires as a red car came speeding around the corner. Like idiots, they got out of the car instead of trying to run us over. I smiled, taking off at a dead run. One of the things I had noticed is that so many of these idiots tended to turn their guns sideways making their aim shit. I spun avoiding a bullet, using the momentum to whack the guy's arm, hearing a titillating crack and scream. I pulled out my gun and opened fire. At this close range, I didn't have to worry about aiming. Blood splattered everywhere, I lost my footing as I slipped in some of it. I fell hard on my ass causing me to lose my grip on my gun. One of the reds stood over me and took the time to curse at me instead pulling the trigger, giving me a chance to ram my size tens into his nuts, he fell to the ground, gasping in pain. I just managed to cover my eyes in time to keep blood out as Julio shot him in the head. "You need better shoes." I took the hand he held out, almost falling again from the blood before finding my footing.

"These are awesome shoes, thank you very much." Sure, they were from last year's collection but it wasn't like I had a couple grand to drop for this year's and at any rate the designer had moved on to pastels. Who the hell wears pastels? I turned out the pockets on the bodies, shoving the contents in my pack, the two of us would split it later. "You ever notice they have the same phones as us?" I shrugged at his look. "I just find it odd, you know?"

"Maybe we all have the same hook-up guy. I got an idea." He crouched down next to one of the bodies and placed his purple bandana next to it. "Our phones can send mass texts, so can theirs. Take a photo and let's rile them up." I took a picture, making sure to crop him out of it, no need for them to be gunning for him. I added a caption to the picture taunting them and adding the street address.

"We should get to cover." I dropped the phone as it started to ring like crazy, text messages popping up like wild fire.

"I got a couple of grenades I've been dying to play with."

"Who's the mini-Gat?" He smiled cockily as we took off at a run.

XXX

"You owe me a new set of heels." I bitched as I looked at the poor things; the heel on the one was cracked and singed besides the leather was now beyond my cleaning skills.

"I told you to get to cover."

"Julio you throw worse than me and all the money in the world couldn't buy me a spot on a peewee team." He really hadn't thrown the grenade, more rolled it really. The distraction had worked, reds had rolled in and when they did, Julio had tossed the grenades. The cars had exploded in a beautiful blaze. We had been too close and ended up taking a dive. The movies had lied to me; there was no cool walking away from explosions. We were both a little banged up, both of my knees and arms were skinned, he had come out better if only because he landed on me.

The two of us sat in the church on one of the few unbroken pews, the spoils of the fight between us. There was a pile of cell phones, jewelry that he had insisted on and wallets, some of which contained a nice amount. The phones and jewelry could be fenced bring the take up to a tidy sum. I flipped through the wallets, piling credit cards and IDs, feeling a pang of guilt when some of them had photos. These people had died for their gang, their city because they belong here.

"You're thinking too hard, chica, I can smell the smoke from here."

"No, that's my hair." I attempted to joke. "It's just weird, you know, everyone's fighting for this city and I feel like an interloper, I'm only here to find my sister."

"Where you going to go when you find her?" I blinked at him.

"I actually never thought of it." I replied stupidly.

"You got a home somewhere else?" I shook my head. "Then why not stay? We're taking over the city; Saints will be living like kings. I know where you're coming from, I got a kid brother I'm doing this for." He pulled out his own wallet and showed me a picture. The little kid looked like a mini of him. "I can tell you want to stay anyhow."

"Oh really?"

"Why'd you get branded if you didn't want to stay?" I ran my fingers over my new tat and smiled.

"Gat took us to Rusty's. He was just so cocky, bragging about his, especially after Jake started tearing up. I just thought to myself that I could handle it. I mean, I was in ballet for ten years." He gave me a strange look. "You have a teacher stand on your back because you're not low enough and you'll understand."

"See that's what I mean, we got Gat inspiring us to be tougher, Dex to be smarter, Troy to be persistent and Lin to never underestimate anyone. Unlike the other gangs, the heads care about us peons." I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "Saints are family, you know?"

"You should write the recruitment posters."

"I pitched it to Dex but he shot me down." He shrugged. "So did it hurt?" He motioned at my neck.

"Like a motherfuker."

A/N: References from last chapter were: Mulan, Firefly and Sherlock.


	10. Chapter 10

Two grand, not bad for a day's work. I couldn't stop thinking about the money in my pack and what to do with it. I was good on food for a while, so I didn't have to worry about that. I need to make my home a little more homey, maybe a TV or at least a stereo. I was grateful that the cell phone I had been given had decent internet and could do all my shopping online. I was in the middle of ordering a new TV when I realized my mistake. I had no usable bank account under my new name and had automatically entered my old info. I didn't know how badly they would be looking for me, I didn't dare login to any of my old accounts, I was too terrified to even try. Just thinking of them brought back the whispered threats, the feel of the knife pressing against my face, not being able to blink for fear the tip so close to my eye would blind me. I rubbed at my throat, trying to dispel the phantom feeling of choking. I was safe here. Babette was safe as she had been completely disinherited and if I died the money would go to charities picked out by ma mere. To get the money they had to get me. I felt like the church's walls were closing in on me. I needed air. I tried to control the speed that I walked out of the church, barely managing to keep from running. If I passed anyone I didn't see them, I stopped when the walls prevented me from leaving. I pressed my head against the stone wall, trying to ground myself. The stone was warm from the sun, I had left my shoes behind, dying grass was under my feet along with pebbles that dug into my skin.

_"You're a pretty enough girl for now." He drew out that last part. "You'll work off your father's debts, won't you?"_ The echo of the past came back with no warning, that voice in my ear, the breath on my cheek. It wasn't real. Just memories. I repeated that over and over but it didn't help. Punching the wall until my hand felt like it was going to fall off did, the pain helped me focus on the here and now. I turned, pressing my back to wall, sliding down so that I could sit. I was scared to open my eyes and see if anyone had seen my freak out, last thing I wanted was someone prodding me with a dozen questions. I reached blindly for my pack, cursing when I realized I had left it in the church, I'd have no choice but to open my eyes if I wanted a smoke to further calm me down. I scrubbed my good hand over my hand, wiping away tears before taking a deep breath and opening my eyes. I had gotten lucky this time, I had ended up in one of the corners that was hard to see from the front of the church where most of the gang hung around. I had to nip this in the bud now.

Dex was in his office, I watched him for a minute as he scribbled furiously in a notebook, moving from the map on the wall to the table where there was more paperwork.

"Hey good work today, we barely had any problems with the shit you two were pulling."

"It was mostly Julio's idea." I shrugged off the praise. "I was thinking since you're the one handling this, you might know where I could pick up some Zannies or A-minus." He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.

"Troy won't like you doing drugs." He finally stated after a minute.

"He's not my father; he has no say on this." I pinched the bridge of my nose, fighting the urge to go find Troy and hit him until I felt better. Thanks to him, I would need the drugs tonight as while I slept he finished off my brandy. He hadn't been there when I woke, only a note saying he'd see me later. With me still on the edge from my little panic attack, I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I had something in my system.

"You're in his crew, he doesn't like his people using." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable with this talk.

"Then transfer me. For fuck's sake, it's not like I'm asking for Molly." I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Look, I need sleep. I just thought coming to you would be the smartest place to look for clean stuff. You got a problem with it, I'll find someone else." I turned to leave.

"Alright, shit fine." He walked over to a chest of drawers and pulled out a ring of keys. "How much you need?" I told him, ignoring the shaking of his head. He turned with two baggies full of little blue pills. "Tell me why you need them."

"I told you sleep."

"Look, if this shit is too much for you."

"I had a life before I joined up Dex." I cut him off before he could attempt to offer me a way out.

"What was so hard about your life rich girl?" He laughed at the look on my face. "It's obvious, you're from money, you walk around in Manolo's like I do in Nike knockoffs." I chewed on my lip, forcing my mind away from that and focused on one of the lesser problems that came in my life. So much of my family had been fucked up as the youngest; I was the one that constantly got dumped on. Babette always tried to shield me most of the problems but with the age difference between us, she couldn't always be around.

"What race am I?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer, what I am Dex?"

"I dunno, black or Latino, I'd say."

"Yeah, that's the problem. I'm actually more white than I am Indian. I've never been able to pass unlike my siblings and ma mere. I was the constant reminder to Granny Agatha that her pure English blood had been tainted. She would tell people that I was adopted and constantly reminded me that I was a mistake. After ma mere died, my father had a paternity test done as no real child of his should be so dark. After all she was nothing more than a whore." I snatched the baggies out of his hand. "Money can't make you happy when you have shitty people in your life. Don't ever try throwing that shit in my face again." I tossed him the money and down a Zannie in a dry swallow.

"Just don't be getting high while you're working."

"They don't get you high if actually have anxiety." I shrugged. "So what's the next step with your little master plan?" He looked so visibly relieved of the change of subject, I almost laughed.

"We found a memo saying that Hector is meeting with the Colombians tomorrow night. I got some ideas of how to handle it, rushing in there would be suicide with all that firepower."

"You don't think they'd reschedule with losing the factory?"

"No, they would lose face if they showed it weakened them. It's all about a show of force with the Colombians." He tapped his pencil on the map.

"Well, good luck with figuring it out. Call me if you need me." He waved me off as I left. With the medication going to work on me, the cloying feeling of panic was beginning to recede. Picking up my stuff, I decided it was time to do some retail therapy.

XXX

Five hundred dollars left. I had nixed the idea of getting a TV and instead gotten a laptop as I could watch everything online. I now had a nice small stereo that had a good bass line, a full set of dishes, pots and pans and a whole load of other things I had needed. My place looked more like a home now. I smiled as I arranged the last of my stuff. I had everything I could need; I even had fixed up a small altar. Most of the items were second hand but I didn't care, it was all mine.

I relaxed on my bed, a cup of tea in hand, ice on the other and booted up "Haute tension". Marie was hiding under the bed hiding as the killer went through the house when someone banged on my door. I let out a shriek, almost dropping my new laptop on the floor. Closing it and setting it gently on the bed, I checked my hair in my new mirror before opening the door, already knowing who it would be.

"Learn to knock quieter okay?" I teased as I opened the door. Troy stood there, flicking his cig away before stepping over the threshold, grabbing the back of my neck and kissing me. I melted into his arms, gods he was a good kisser. I pulled away after a moment and lightly punched him in the stomach. "That's for this morning, ass." He gave me a wounded look before stepping in and looking over my place.

"You redecorated." I took his coat, hanging it up on my new coat rack. "I don't like it." He said after a minute. "Too much blue." He glared at the area rug I had put down.

"It's teal you uncultured swine and it's my favorite color." I smiled proudly at my place. He looked me over. "I have a very lovely lingerie set in teal. I'd let you see but you're too much of a tease." I stepped up to him and ran my fingers down his chest. He caught my hand before I got too low on him.

"You're going to make the next month hell on me aren't you?" He muttered before kissing me again.

"You have no idea." I couldn't help smiling at his look. He sat on the bed as I made two cups of coffee.

"You got to understand, I break a lot of laws, cross a lot of lines in my life. I got to set lines somewhere."

"I get it, you if don't you'll do something you'll really regret. Doesn't mean I'm not going to make you regret it." He gave me a pained look as I handed him a cup and sat next to him. He took a sip of the coffee and grimaced, setting it down on the nightstand.

"So what happened today?" I started to tell him about the mission with Julio but he cut me off. "I saw what happened at the church and Dex told me about the drugs." I shook my head. There was no way to keep secrets in this damn gang. Julio was right, it was like family. I didn't know how well Troy could keep secrets from the gang. Now that I thought about it, Dex's concern was probably more from the fact that Troy was interested in me and not just me being on his crew.

"There's some things I can't talk about until I know you can keep a secret."

"I'm very good with secrets." His eyes were light with amusement.

"Somehow I doubt it."

XXX

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it. Next chapter will probably be up by Monday. Remember the meal isn't over when you're full, it's over when you hate yourself.


	11. Chapter 11

Eight inch cock. Each word on its own was innocent, they caused no problems, however combined, they made things awkward. Never had I thought that three words could make me so uncomfortable. I stared at the poster of Aisha, trying to keep my eyes from focusing on said words and see if I could see if they were true. From the cocky grin, the owner of said eight inch cock thought my reaction was hilarious.

"Honestly Johnny, why would you say that? Now I'll never be able to look at you without thinking about that." I finally said after an awkward five minutes of imagining Johnny naked. To be honest he was a good looking man, maybe better than Troy. He had that bad boy persona down that Hollywood loved to add in every crime movie, you know, the one that dies in a blaze of glory. He was the type for fucking, not relationships. Of course because I was imagining Johnny, my mind had to go and compare his statement with what I had felt while grinding on Troy. I was a horrible judge of measurement, send me to a fabric shop for three feet of silk, I came back with five and a half. All I could tell you was he felt wonderful and I wanted to do horrible things to him.

"Ooh, I like how you say my name." I buried my face in my hands as he laughed. With my accent his name came out much more sexual than I intended. I had been in such a good mood today, finally having gotten a good night sleep in weeks.

"I can't even… I'm so done." I threw up my hands and got up from the chair causing him to laugh harder.

"Ah come on Ang, I'm just pulling your leg." I was never going to get rid of that nickname, I had already snapped at three people with no effect. "I didn't think you'd care, what with you and Troy-"

"He told you about us?" I snapped interrupting him. "I asked him to not tell anyone. I'm going to kill him." I sunk down in my seat, disappointment flooding me. I had been right not to say a word to him last night.

"Whoa, it's cool. Dex and I are the only ones who know."

"I didn't want anyone to know." I sighed rubbing the back of my neck. "You don't think less of me do you?"

"Nah, course not. Look, anyone gives you shit over it let me know. I don't stand for that kind of stuff. Now you ready to learn or are you going to keep fantasizing about my cock?" He leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on the desk, hands folding on his stomach. "Since you're new to the city, let me give you a rundown on this. The Vice Kings are named after one guy: Benjamin King. That shit don't happen unless you're a profession or a bad ass, and in King's case, he's both."

"He runs Kingdom Come Records, right?"

"Surprised you knew that."

"Of course I do. I'm barely out of my teens; I had the dream of being a singer like all girls." I nodded at the posters of Aisha. "Every girl I know wanted to be her, great voice, beautiful and classy with the right amount of sleaze."

"Yeah, that's my girl for you." I was about to call bullshit on him when his phone rang. "Hold on, I got to take this. Aisha, what a pleasant fucking surprise. Whoa, slow down." He held the phone away from his ear and I could almost hear the shrieking. "Okay that's not slower, that's louder. Shit, where's she headed? Don't worry, I got this."

"What's up?" Dex asked as he walked in the room.

"Some mother fucker's grabbed Aisha's sister right off the street." There was no way that he was talking about _that_ Aisha.

"Shit man, that's the sixth girl this month. We know who's doing this?"

"Yeah, the Vice Kings."

"No way man, kidnapping ain't King's style."

"Maybe that slut Tanya is going behind King's back, don't know, don't fucking care. Aisha said they were driving a yellow sedan. Tail those bitches back to wherever they go and get those girls back and make sure you take back up."

I shielded my eyes from the bright sun as I stepped out the church, looking for a familiar face. Troy was working with a bunch of Saints over on the makeshift shooting range setup over in the graveyard. I smiled when he smacked one of the guys upside the head and yelled at them. He gave me a quick smile and nod when he saw me before turning and yelling at someone else. I didn't know how to ask anyone if they would go with me. Did I just go up to some random person and ask? I stood there chewing on my lip, stupidly hoping for inspiration to hit when my phone dinged.

**STOP THAT, I'M TRYING TO WORK HERE.**

I smiled at the text, fighting an urge to glance over at him. Some men had a thing for tits, some for asses; I end up with someone who actually appreciated my lips.

**Have I mentioned I'm very talented with my mouth?**

I was tempted to tease him some more but decided against it. I walked over to the parked cars, relieved to find Julio playing craps with some others.

"Hey, care to do some work with me?"

"Sure thing chica." He picked up his money, not even bothering to count it as we took his car. "Here, I picked these up for you." He fished out a pack of cigarillos, tossing them to me.

"Thank gods, I lost my damn ID and haven't been able to get more. I could kiss you." I smiled gratefully as I light up. "I think that's the car we're looking for." He followed behind the car but not too close to tip off the driver as I filled him in on what was going on.

"See things like this is why I hate the Vice Kings, they got this puta running their whores and they don't care about any of them. Half their girls try to run away, so now they kidnapping girls, they get them hooked on drugs and keep them like sheep. It's fucked up." I readied myself, placing extra ammo in my new ammo pouches that attached to my belt and securing the Velcro flaps. Seven clips total on hand, if I needed more than seventy bullets, I was in more trouble than I could handle. Last but least, I pulled out my reading glasses and perched them on the tip of my nose. The other day while getting tattooed, I had spoken to Johnny about my shooting and he had pointed out looking down the sights was useless, if I couldn't see them. Being able to aim down the sights made things so much easier.

"Ready?" I asked as we came to a stop. He smiled in affirmative and pulled out his own gun. Inside there were several VK's and lots of shelving, I ducked behind some boxes as shots fired, aiming down the sights as I returned fire. I managed not to cheer as I actually hit what I was aiming for. I had been told to not bother aiming for the head, that was for zombie games, no, the best place to aim was for the chest. It was the easiest target to hit and unlike the movies showed, it could be an instant kill if I hit the right spot. Once we got rid of them, Julio stood guard, looting the bodies while I headed to the back where I found a locked door. "Anyone in there?"

"You got to get us out of here, the guy with the key went to Tee'N'Ay." One of the girls inside yelled.

"Stand back from the door, okay?" I heard movement inside. I was not going to go chasing some ass for a key when I could just shoot the lock off. It would waste time and with my luck, there would be a dozen VK's by time I got back. The women screamed when I shot the door and kicked it open. "Hi there, anyone need a rescue?"

XXX

During the whole ride, Malia had attached herself to me like ivy, crying and sobbing all over me. I awkwardly patted her on the back, trying not freak out. Tears were not meant to shed in public, they were a private thing, in fact, when I had a panic attack in public, the fact I cried could trigger another panic attack on top of the original. Julio had found my horrified look hilarious if the way he had taken his time driving was any indication. I had never been happier to see the church when we finally pulled up. Aisha had been arguing with Johnny when I brought her sister in.

"Malia! Oh my god, are you alright?" I was surprised to find out that Johnny's Aisha was actually the Aisha. I watched the two sisters hug and cry, backing away slowly, trying not to draw attention to myself. Fortunately I managed to clear the room before they noticed me. I joined Julio outside on the church steps, relaxing with a smoke, the telltale skunk smell of it explained the massive amount of food in front of him. I took a few of his napkins and wiped down my outfit, getting the girl's tears off of me and my reading glasses. He watched me with a smirk as I finished cleaning up and slipped them into the front of my shirt.

"Man, I kept waiting for you to toss her out of the car. Last time I saw someone look like that was when my mama told my dad that she was knocked up again." I glared at him, stealing his lighter as I light up. "And you going, 'there, there'. That was the best." It was probably the pot that was making him think that was funny because it had not been in the least.

"I'm not good with nonconsensual touching."

"What about consensual touching?" He drawled.

"Oh, I'm very good with that, most of my exes had problems with me being too touchy-feely."

"So..." He took a drag off of his joint. "You want to do some consensual touching sometime?" His delivery of the line was so cheesy that I couldn't help cracking up laughing.

"I bet that sounded so much better in your head." I said gasping for breath between laughter.

"Yeah, it did." He smiled bashfully. "So how about it?"

"You're about two days too late." I puffed on my cigarillo. "I'm kind of dating someone, I think." I shrugged.

"No offense chica, but how do you not know?"

"He's made it clear he wants to do stuff", I felt myself blushing, "at a later time and he just kind of overwhelms me with his actions, but it's not like he's actually taken me on a date."

"So he really hasn't staked a claim yet, so to speak?" He grinned in a totally adorable way. "How about I take you out to dinner and a movie?" I smiled back at him. This was more my speed, I knew exactly what he wanted and knew the song and dance that came with it unlike Troy who was confusing the hell out of me.

"Ang, let's go, we go work to do." Speak of the devil and he appears. Troy stood over the two of us and walked down the stairs between us, holding out a hand to help me up. He pulled me harder than he had to, making me tumble against him. I waved goodbye to Julio as I followed Troy. His car was parked in the back of the church, tucked away in a corner. Before I could even touch the car's door, he grabbed my arm, turning me so that he could press a kiss to my lips. His fingers tangled in my hair in an almost angry grip, his lips moving against mine in an almost bruising manner, his teeth scrapping harshly over my lips. As quickly as he begun the kiss, he pulled away, leaving me standing there as he went to his side of the car. "We'll go get something to eat after this." I raised an eyebrow at him. "No more flirting with that kid either." He snapped as he slammed his door closed. I resisted the urge to smile. Jealousy was something I was familiar with.


	12. Chapter 12

I was once that all fear came from the fear of death. That person didn't have an active enough imagination. I did. There are worse things than dying: falling from a height great enough to render every bone broken but not dead or falling and ending up a quadriplegic or falling and acquiring enough brain damage to make you a vegetable. My fear of heights was a tad strong. Just a tad. It's not like I cried like a baby at the theater when I was forced to sit in the balcony. Oh wait, that did happen.

My skin was cold and clammy as my completely rational fear swan through me. My mind insisting on focusing on all the ways the roof could give out as I laid there staring through the scope of the sniper rifle. Getting up to the roof had been an ordeal, my throat tightened until I thought I would choke. I had to force myself to keep my eyes up, even as the masochistic urge to look down hounded me. I practiced my breathing, four in seven out, as I waited for the Colombians to show up. This was one of Dex's great plans, kill Hector Lopez, leaving his crazy brother on a rampage, hopefully against the Colombians. I had to time things just right, make it look like they wanted the money and keep the drugs.

This was a big deal, this would start the rise of the Saints; it was the only reason why I fought through my fear. Sure, it was Dex's plan, but I was the one executing it. I would be the one remembered for this. I watched Hector through the scope, he was grim faced as he talked to one of his people. He really looked like a man who never smiled, probably from all the problems his cokehead of a brother caused. I could sympathize with him. I felt bad for him, but I really felt bad for the fact that this shot was going to ruin his coat; it was a really nice high quality one. I hated ruining nice things.

After what felt like an eternity, they arrived. I watched as the two men greeted each other, both surrounded by their men. Hector waved one of his men over carrying a briefcase, showing off the money inside. The Colombian nodded and took the case, before he could return the favor, I took the shot, nailing Hector in the gut. The force of the bullet knocked him off his feet, I didn't know what he said as blood pooled around him but his people opened fire on the drug dealers. I was tempted to stay and watch the chaos but I had been told to leave once it started. Now for the greater challenge: getting the hell down without crying.

XXX

"You really should have said something kid." Troy scolded me, his hand on the back of my neck, gently massaging the tension out.

"Please don't call me that, it makes this unbelievably creepy." I glanced over at his smirking face. It was my own fault; I had really thought I could make it down without a problem. I had made it halfway down when one of my heels went right through the grated floor of the fire escape, causing me to fall on my face. After that, I had been so done. I couldn't go any further, breathing exercises had not helped at all. I didn't know how long I had been up there before my phone had started ringing.

"Maybe I should call you princess then since I had to rescue you." It was pathetic and horrible that he did. I had been stuck up there, unable to move. At least he had managed to keep his laughter to a minimum until we had gotten in the car. It had not been my finest moment.

"I knew I could get up there and do the job, okay? I would have gotten down eventually." I snapped.

"Surprised you didn't pop one of your little pills." His voice dripped with disdain. I didn't know what his problem was with the psych meds. I wasn't self-medicating; not really, it was the same dose my shrink had had me on for years. He was probably one of those people who saw difference between Babette's drug use and mine. I was tempted to slap his hand away but his touch was helping me calm.

"I'm not abusing them; I'd have my shrink call you if I could." I muttered, groaning as his thumb dug into a particularly tense knot.

"If you got a doc, why aren't you getting shit off of them?"

"Bad people are looking for me; first place they'd check is Doc Brown. Been seeing her for five years now." His hand stilled and I caught him looking at me. "Please watch the road." I scolded him.

"Why would a twelve year old need a shrink?"

"My father was an alcoholic, he became a nasty one after ma mere's death." I could almost see the wheels turning in his head, connecting the usual dots most people did. "He never touched me if that's what you're thinking." He visibly relaxed. I never understood why people automatically jumped to thinking of that. We didn't talk after that; he clicked on the radio after a few minutes of silence. I smiled at him as a new report went over the details of the shooting, my shooting. By time we pulled up to a restaurant, I was finally relaxed.

"You like Chinese?" I didn't point out that it was a little late to say no if I didn't since we were already there. Before we entered, he stopped and pulled out his wallet and handed me two cards. "I got you new ones since the old ones were shit. Dex's got a guy who deals with immigrants so that number will pop up as you." They were so much better than my old ones and, I held up the driver's license, my age was listed as twenty-one.

"You made me older and a driver?"

"You drive just as well as me and you can buy your own shit. Seriously a forty will get you just as drunk as that expensive shit."

"Thank you." I smiled at him, I hesitated a moment before closing the distance between us and kissing him. I was always nervous kissing when standing as odd as it sounds, years of watching Hollywood actresses having to tiptoe to kiss the lead made me feel awkward when I was the one that had to bend down. Troy was different, without my heels he was actually a few inches taller than I. Kissing was more intimate when you were level with the guy, there was more eye contact, no silly angling problems and it was so much easier to figure out where to place your hands. Mine were on either side of his neck, my thumbs stroking the light fuzz on his cheeks, I pressed my body against his, his hands going to the small of my back. I wanted nothing more than to push him against a wall but I pulled away and smiled at him.

"Jesus, you thank everyone like that?"

"You should see me when I'm really grateful."

XXX

For the record, I loved buffets; they were a special treat from the gods unto us humans. Or maybe it was just my love of fried bananas and Chinese doughnuts talking. Or it could be the whiskey I was drinking since the waitress fucked up my tea order. I didn't understand what was wrong with Americans and tea. Tea was best with cream and sugar, not goddamn lemon, especially not with lemon and cream. Why people did that was beyond me. Fucking lack of American logic.

The food was decent it was made better by the company. Troy kept trying to get me to open up to him, but I was good at avoiding taking about things as my therapist could have told him. He tried bribing me with info on himself, he was the middle child of five, his family was old school Irish and how he got started in the Saints. I knew he was letting me drink as much as I was because he was hoping I would get careless and tell him all, only thing that changed was my accent became more pronounced. Gods, he was so damn nosey.

"You eat like a kid." He shook his head as I sat down with another plate filled with deserts, most of my plates had had more junk food than actual food. I ignored him, popping a doughnut into my mouth, making a show of licking the sugar off my middle finger. "So what's your real name?"

"What makes you think Angelique isn't my name?"

"Oh, I know that's your real name, you wouldn't get so pissy over nicknames otherwise. However, you stumble over Montague every time you say it." I drained my glass, looking away from him, signaling over the waitress for a refill.

"My father use to say that Montague fit our family better because his good name was being destroyed by a bunch of whores, meaning ma mere, Babette and I." I pushed away my plate of sweets and sat back in my seat. "Figured it would be a good dig at him from the beyond."

"I'm not following."

"For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo." I quoted the bard. I hated the story with a passion having endured the jokes on my name growing up. "He always claimed the story would have ended up happy if the whorish ways of Juliet hadn't distracted Romeo from Rosaline."

"Yeah, it's been a while since high school, only remember I hate Shakespeare." I snickered. "Still that's a hell of a thing to say."

"He wasn't that far off, ma mere was in another man's bed when she died." The coroners had wheeled her body out on a stretcher, the wind picked up, blowing the bloody sheet off her body, neighbor's watching like vultures, snapping photos I'd see later on Facebook. "Babette sells herself to pay for drugs." I shrugged.

"What about you?" I played with my glass and shook my head.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Can you take me home?" I downed my drink and stood up from the table. After taking a few wobbly steps, I had to take off my heels as I followed him back to the car. He was smart and didn't try to engage me in conversation as he drove until he pulled in front of my place.

"You going to be okay?"

"Besides from a case of perpetual arousal cause by you and exacerbated by alcohol, I'm fine." I unbuckled and leaned over, giving him kiss. "You really piss me off you know?"

"It's a habit of mine."

"Non, it's not the not having sex part." I struggled for the right words. "I don't like nor trust people but you," I didn't know how to express what I wanted to say. People left me all the time, they betrayed me, lied to me and made me hate humanity as a whole. I struggled with my exes but not with Troy, nor really any of the Saints. I felt at home with them. "je ne sais quoi." I finished lamely.

"Go home, you're sappy drunk."

XXXX

A/n: I'm not completely happy with this chapter.

Translation: je ne sais quoi = literally 'I don't know what'


	13. Chapter 13

You would think with having an alcoholic father, I would know better than to indulge in cheap whiskey. If the splitting headache wasn't bad enough, I was having wicked cramps courtesy of that bitch Mother Nature. Over the last couple months, I had been having trouble downstairs, often needing to stay home because of the intensity of the cramps, somehow I doubted the Saints would take that as an excuse. Anyhow explaining lady problems to the headmistress of my school was a lot different than explaining it to Julius. Just the idea of doing so was mortifying.

The onset of my lady time did help me calm down about my attraction to Troy. It explained so much. I like so many, made horrible, horrible decisions when hormonal. In fact, all my boyfriends, all three of them, happened during times like this. I became hormonal and just ended up jumping on the first guy that was nice and/or attractive. It made so much more sense now, I had been ovulating, hot guy is hot, evolution takes over and wants to bang said hot guy. Simple. Confiding in him about my family, even as little as I did was from the alcohol. I just needed to avoid Troy and alcohol; the combination of the two would end up being bad for me.

Troy was the curious type. I knew how I was, if I let myself get into a relationship, I would end up telling him everything. His constant questioning would make it so much easier to open up to him. Therefore, I couldn't allow there to be an us. I couldn't trust him not to plug my real name into Google or the like and alert anyone of where I was. I didn't know much about technology but I didn't want to take any chances. I doubted that Troy would figure out my last name was really Capulet. That would end badly.

I didn't feel like leaving the house today but I knew if I didn't that Troy would probably stop by to check on me. It was in my best interest to avoid him for a while. So I put on my big girl pants and headed to the church. The heat of the day was uncomfortable, making me hate Mother Nature even more as I stomped along in my black jeans and heavy boots, during this time of the month; I stuck to pants, not needing a repeat of a particularly embarrassing accident.

"Finally representing today, I see." Gat remarked when I got to the church. I had found a purple shirt whose color wouldn't end up clashing with my red when the dye finally faded out. I scowled at him in reply causing him to smile at me. "You want to help canonize some new blood?" The idea of causing others pain in my current mood made me smile.

"Hell yes."

XXX

Fun fact number one: Johnny Gat wasn't allowed to canonize people, apparently he had problems turning off the scary psycho killer in him and new recruits would flat out refuse to fight him. However, due to his skill, he was usually in charge of overseeing canonizations, which is why he had made sure I had been. He was the one that picked out who would do the fighting; he had to pick a balance between those who knew what they were doing and the crap fighters in order to not intimidate the new blood.

Fun fact number two: After helping with three fights, I wasn't allowed to fight anymore. Between my size and my gender, I was apparently emasculating the new blood. It was a fight and I couldn't understand what it mattered that I was female. Men and their egos, the bane of every woman's life. Since Johnny was so good at fighting, I asked him afterwards if he would help me become better at fighting.

Fun fact number three: Johnny's idea of teaching was basically beating the shit out of you until you learned better with an occasional lesson thrown at you. This was why I was on my knees, breathing through my nose, trying not to puke from the pain the blow to my stomach caused.

"See this is what I mean, you leave yourself completely open. You got to learn to protect your weak points better." He held down a hand to help me up.

"Gods, you're worse than a Spanish teacher who only speaks the language and expects you to learn that way." I bitched as I took his hand.

"And did you learn?"

"Eso es al lado del punto." He smiled right before he punched me again. "Son of a whore!" I tried to return the favor but he stepped out of the way, chuckling the whole time.

"See now, you would have dodged that if you were paying attention."

"We were talking."

"Happens. Not every motherfucker going to give you warning, you got to be ready." I spent the next hour having my ass handed to me. That's not to say I didn't any hits in. Johnny tended to protect his upper body more than anything, depending on his long reach to keep people away and with my long legs, it left his vulnerable. At the end of our session, I was pretty sure I had a permanent imprint of his ring on my kidney while he probably had one of my boot on his knee. "Not bad," He said as he sat down next to me, handing me a beer, "for a girl."

"You did not just go there." I scrunch up my nose, placing the beer down. No way was I drinking that shit.

"Hey, just saying, no matter how good you fight, guy's going to always be better." He shrugged as he took a swig of his swill. I stared at him in disbelief.

"No wonder Aisha breaks up with you on a regular basis." After being taken out of the fights, I had ended up talking with some others while waiting for a free minute to talk to Johnny. I was surprised to find that the two really were a couple, from everything that had been published about the singer; she didn't seem the rough and tumble type of girl.

"Hey she may break up with me but we always get back together. I'm irresistible." The smile on his face had me blushing.

"So can I ask you something personal?"

"Shoot."

"Troy mentioned that you, um." This was more awkward than I thought it would be. "Get off on violence."

"Pretty much." He said with a shrug. I hadn't expected him to be so blunt about it.

"Er, how do you handle it?" He looked me over.

"Up close and personal or from a distance?"

"What?"

"Which one gets you off? Personally, either one gets me off, though if I got to choose, I like to get right up in a motherfucker."

"How are you so casual about this? Doesn't it bother you?" I didn't know how to process this.

"See this is what I mean, fucking women always got to poke at shit. Fuck, bad enough I got to get this type of shit from Eesh. You want to have an existential crisis about how you feel, go right on ahead." He stood, grabbing the beer I hadn't bothered with. "My advice, find someone to fuck to burn off the high so you keep your head right, just make sure you don't hurt them in the process. Now if you excuse me I'm going to find my girl and follow my own advice." If a man could walk away in a huff, Johnny did it perfectly. I thought about what he said, my mind immediately seizing on the idea of burning off energy with Troy. Sure, he had said we were going to take it slow but what guy really turned down a blow job? My fertile imagination provided me with a graphic image of me on my knees in front of him, my dark skin on his. I admit that I had a thing for guys with lighter skin than mine. Something about the contrast

"Gods damn it." I muttered to myself. Stupid fucking hormones, hadn't I decided Troy was off limits? Gods, I wish I could fuck without getting attached to the person, but my father's words made it impossible. I made a mental note to pick up a vibrator ASAP.

XXX

A/N: This chapter has been brought to you through suffering by Geno who has bitten my hand six times and managed to turn off my pc twice.


	14. Chapter 14

Deciding to stay away from Troy and actually being able to avoid him were two very different things. No matter how much I tried to avoid him, I'd always seem to run into him. He always seemed to find when I was alone, his hand tangling in my hair as he pulled me to him, kissing me hungrily enough to leave me whimpering. He'd pull away with a satisfied smirk before leaving me there befuddled. It was annoying and aggravating especially since I had made the decision to stop all this. And yet, it was endearing and sweet, the way he would seek me out just to show a touch of affection was stupidly winning me over, causing me to have arguments often with myself.

I struggled to distract myself my thoughts. Fortunately for me, there was always a list of things that needed to be done, a list that was keeping me busy and away from the church. I used my talents of fucking everything up to the benefit of the Saints. There were always people who, much to my delight, willing to pay for destruction. Destroying property values was amazing fun, especially in areas that reminded me of home, and I had fallen hard in love with grenades. Unfortunately, I was paying it now.

During the past week, the weather had steadily gotten worse until the city was about to melt. It had gotten so hot, there were now "rolling blackouts" also known as the city trying to kill off the gang areas by diverting the power to the better areas of the city. Gasoline prices had skyrocket making it next to impossible to chill out in cars or leave for colder pastures. Bright side of it was that it kept the gangs in their own hoods since no one wanted to walk around in this heat, especially since public transit had shut down. At the very least I was lucky to be living in a basement apartment with no windows and it was cool enough to sleep at night. Of course, most people wanted to go to the beach at the very least, but some idiot had thrown a grenade that ended up rolling into the sewer, which ended up exploding the main and drenching the beach in e. coli. I'm pretty sure I would be murdered if anyone found out.

The heat could do strange things to a person. I should have been used to the heat having grown up down south but even I was dying out here. Hence the reason, several of us lady folk sat in the shade of the church watching the men folk practice in the blistering heat as there was nothing else to do. None of us had any usable electrics; half of our cells were dead since there hadn't been any power since Tuesday, no way out of the hood unless it was an emergency and an out of order beach making this our only entertainment.

It was good entertainment, I will say that. Watching Gat call the men a bunch of pussies while they were practically dying from the heat was interesting. Of course it probably helped the guys were trying to show off more with us all sitting there in very little. Every couple of hours we would all reapply sunscreen, drawing stares and cat calls until Gat kicked their asses back to work. I had given up the ghost of wearing real clothes the second my period ran away and was currently wearing a white bikini that contrasted very nicely with my dark skin. My outfit would have been obscene if I had larger breasts like the woman sitting next to me.

Roe the hoe, as she was affectionately called, was one of the madams who worked for the gang. With the extreme heat, she had given her girls off, unlike the Vice Kings who had no problem working theirs half to death. She was a beautifully built woman without an ounce of shame as she reclined on the steps next to me decked out in a bikini that made mine look like a burqa. She was around ma mere age with ebony skin, prematurely grey hair and a body of a porn star. I was tempted to be petty and ask if she was augmented, only the appreciative look Troy had given me when he walked by with Dex to go on a run. Roe had seen the look and had volunteered information on him, mainly how when he first joined the gang he had used a few of her girl, leaving them satisfied. I had politely declined to know more about any of that, leaving the woman laughing.

The other girls sitting with us, however wanted to know more about different guys in the gang that patronized her girls. Once I got over my initial embarrassment of talking about such things, everything fell into a familiar pattern. Society likes to think that men are crude when it comes to sex, however it was really women. I knew Jazzy, the Latina girl who preferred to work as a look out, was a chocolate chaser preferring skinny guys and tried to get info on Dex, while Lilly only slept with white guys because her parents were racist and while they understood the gang, they put their foot down on the dating other races. Carmen was a tiny little Asian woman who looked my age but was in her middle forties, she had lost one of her sons in a Carnales drive-by and helped the gang with supportive means, such as making sure the men were well and feed right, she had yelled at a group earlier about drinking in this heat before handing them water bottles. Every so often she would run off into the group of men and drag one back and force him to apply sunscreen. Then there was Destiny, the self proclaimed whore, which Roe corrected her that she was polyamorous, had two guys and one girl on the side. She was the gang's gunsmith; she provided a large amount of the gang's ammo. She was also the only one of us in full clothes; all of her exposed skin covered in zinc oxide, making her look like a steam-punk ghost. When she was asked why, her only reply was that she was Irish.

Destiny and I were engage in a discussion about the size of a man's penis and his level of douche baggery and how to measure it quantitatively when my words trailed off as I stared unabashedly at Gat when he took off his shirt.

"Holy shit, I could do my wash on those abs. He is way too pretty." I stated as I watched him.

"He's better naked." Aisha remarked as she joined us on the steps. "You should see his ass, you could bounce a quarter off of it." She held out her hands as if framing said ass while she smiled brightly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to ogle your man." She waved me off.

"Girl, I'm used to it, kind of makes you proud to have the man everyone wants." She smiled brightly.

"That doesn't make you jealous?" The idea of anyone ogling someone I was with usually drove me up the wall.

"No reason to be, I'm secure enough in myself not to worry." More women joined us watching as some more of the men took off shirts, trying to compete with Gat's hotness. By time the sun was setting there had to be thirty women camped out on the steps, we passed around drinks, slowly getting more rowdy and loud as we cheered on the men.

"So I got a question about Gat." I leaned over, having to practically yell in Aisha's ear over the din.

"Yes it is eight inches." She sighed and rolling her eyes, it took her a moment to realize I was just staring in shock at her. "What?"

"That was totally not my question. I am never going to be able to work with him."

"If it helps, Dex is the same size." Roe was delighted to tell me, Jazzy high fived the madam.

"Marzell is about six but he's pretty thick." Destiny felt free to add. "Oh, I thought we were talking about guys dicks. I'll just shut up." She smiled at my glare. The conversations just went downhill from there.

XXX

The all important run that Dex and Troy had to make turned out to be fixings for a barbecue. Julius had given us all a speech on how there was more at stake than just driving out the gangs, it was also about winning hearts and minds of the people. We need their support to stay in power, without it new gangs could rise up to get rid of us one day, which is how the Vice Kings and Saints had come to be. Since the row had been without power, most of us hadn't eaten fresh food; I myself had been stuck with ramen since I didn't have a working fridge. The barbecue was amazing, beer basted meats, a spread of different salads and fruit and lots of drinks. Someone had even figured out how to hook up some music and party lights. Most of the gang ended up pairing off or hanging out in groups, somehow I ended up relaxing in Troy's arms.

His chest rumbled against my back as he argued with another over some football stats, his hand idly stroking my arm while I and the other girl shared a pained look. Roe had given me a convincing argument on women's places in the gang, she explained while the Saints were more female friendly, the old rules still held. Unless a woman was a complete and total badass such as Lin, she was someone to be taken care of and protected. There were ways around this unspoken rule however, be a complete badass and fight a constant uphill battle as Lin did or attach yourself to man who was respected as Tanya did in the Vice Kings. Sure, she was a joke, a whore and a horrible person but she could do damn well what she wanted as long as she had two men wrapped around her fingers. This is why the guys had a problem with me helping canonizing new people. I was not a total badass; I was still a relative newbie and had no male attached to me.

This was the reason there were very few single women in the gang, it caused a hell a lot less stress for everyone one than to challenge the standard norms. It made a lot of sense and more importantly gave me a good reason to go against my better judgment when it came to Troy. Gods, it was stupid but I missed the little things about being with a guy and already he was giving me some of those things I craved. Troy at least was a safe choice and as long as I didn't tell him my past, he wouldn't inadvertently betray me.


	15. Chapter 15

Bitches be crazy. Troy was starting to understand why Gat said it so often. It was one of Gat's favorite sayings as long as Aisha was nowhere in sight, one time he had and the girl had given him the biggest puppy eyes Gat had agreed to see the latest chick flick. Gat would never admit to the fact that he was whipped. It was a joke between himself and Dex, they kept it to themselves as Gat would probably beat them to an inch of their lives if he found out.

Every man knew women were crazy, which is why Troy didn't bother trying to figure out Ang's mercurial moods. He was old enough to know that you didn't try to get a straight answer out of a woman, no matter their age, they would never have one. He had noticed ever since their last talk, she had been going out of her way to avoid him. He didn't bother to ask the reasoning behind it, she would tell him when she was ready. He wasn't going to let her back out so easily, if she wanted out she would have come out and say it. Not that he really gave her a chance.

Each day he managed to find her and while she may have wanted to end things but when his lips were on hers, she was the one to press their bodies together, clinging to him as she whimpered against his lips. She would look at him with pleading eyes when he pulled away, leaving her with a dazed look on her face. It was the highlight of the day really, what with all the trouble going on.

With the death of Hector Lopez, the los Carnales were fracturing beyond repair. He had been the brains of the gang, Angelo was led too easily by his cock and coke. The latest attacks from them carried no rhyme or reason, they were slowly falling apart, the only thing holding them together was Victor, who still wouldn't go down after emptying a clip in the motherfucker. Once he was gone, Angelo would quickly follow and the los Carnales would fall like a pack of cards. On top of the gang troubles, there was worst heat wave in the city in over two decades and with it people were losing their minds.

Violence was breaking out in the city and for once it wasn't caused from the gangs. For once he was glad he was part of the gang, Julius cared about the people in the gang and in the hood. He assigned folks to take care of the people, sending the younger ones on food runs since the city was trying a new tactic of using the heat as a cover to sweat out the gangs and cut the power. He didn't have a fucking clue who authorized such a shit plan, if he found out he swore he'd kill the fucker. It wasn't like the police liked the plan either; it was causing too many problems since now they were dealing with civilians who would normally not cause any problems.

That's not to say that the Saint weren't pulling standard operations, members brave enough to tough out the heat were still out doing work bringing respect to the gang. As the temperatures rose to deadly heights, Julius closed down operations until further notice, much to the horror of Dex. He had been busy trying to get the drug front running with the new factory but they needed top product and for that they needed the Colombians, especially much do his dismay, Dex had nixed his idea of offing Orejuela. Finding the man was a little harder than they had thought, they were waiting for a time and place to meet him that would keep them from also running into Angelo at the same time. When Julius had pulled the plug on everything, Dex had flipped out, ranting on how Jules needed to start taking him seriously. Troy had just let the guy rant as they went on a food run. Dex had some serious authority issues, mainly that he wasn't in charge.

Dex wouldn't have thought twice about taking care of the people outside the gang though to be honest neither would he if he was the one running things. When they had left the church that afternoon, most of the gang was just hanging around, the new guys being drilled by Gat, who had a way of convincing baby gangers they could do so much better. Hell, if Gat would apply himself more, he'd probably take over the gang if something happened to Julius but as it was he was happy just fucking shit up and hanging out. Speaking of hanging out, when he had left, there had been only a handful of women sitting in the shade, watching the men while being catty and snarky as women are, Ang among them wearing a bikini that left little to his imagination. It unnerved him that she had been talking to one of the gang's madams, there was no telling what she would hear from the woman.

XXX

Despite the heat, people liked a good party. They didn't let it get them down as they pigged out and danced like idiots. As a rule, Troy didn't dance, slow dancing maybe but never this full body rhythmic dancing so many people preferred. He had danced exactly twice that way before deciding never to do it again; he looked far too much of a jackass doing it. Instead, he preferred watching other people make asses out of themselves, his personal favorite to watch was Gat trying to dance with Aisha.

"Hey." He looked away from the dancing mass to find Ang at his side. She caught him off guard as she kissed him. It wasn't a quick peck either; no this was a full on, I-want-to-fuck-you kiss, complete with body language of her pressing her body against him. Her skin was hot from the day's heat, she smelled of coconuts and was dripping water from her hair. She gave him a shy smile when she pulled away and even in the dim light he could make out her blush.

"What brought that on?" He was surprised by her actions considering they were in the middle of a crowd.

"Just happy to see someone who isn't going to talk about Gat's cock or any of the other members."

"What? Why the fuck were you talking about that?" He knew he was tired from the heat but that hadn't made any sense.

"You'd be surprised what girls talk about. I can now safely tell you about all the things you never wanted to know about the men."

"I'll pass." He loped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Say anything nice about me?"

"Half of them think you're sweet for wanting to wait while the others think you're a pretentious ass." She pressed her hands against his chest as she rose up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I just think you're a tease." She whispered in his ear. He ran his hand through her wet hair, drawing her into another kiss.

"Why are you all wet?"

"There are so many bad things I could say in reply to that." She drawled out, giving him a cheeky grin. "Couple of guys got pissy from the catcalling, so they pelted us with water balloons. Destiny beat Leroy with her parasol until it broke." He shook his head. He knew the kid made them by hand with a metal frame, he was disappointed he missed it. "Can you take me home later?"

XXX

Since her place was a basement apartment, it was actually rather cool, however it was pitch black, even the little LED candles she had barely touched the darkness. He stretched out on her bed watching her over the rim of his glass, she hadn't bothered changing out of that bikini and with the soft lighting and wine this was a little too romantic for his taste. He wasn't much of a wine drinker, no, he was more of a beer and whiskey kind of man but the wine she gave him didn't have that aftertaste like most wine he had tried and tasted of dark cherries.

"I'd be careful drinking it so fast." She smiled at him over her glass as he downed his.

"Only a pussy gets drunk off wine Angel." She shook her head as she poured them both fresh glasses, emptying the bottle. "I should be warning you, lightweight."

"I'm French, I was drinking merlot in my sippy cups." He watched her as they drank in silence. He waited practically able to see her thinking of what to say whatever was on her mind. He wondered if she had to translate everything in her head before she opened her mouth or if she really did put too much thought into what she was saying. "I know I said I wanted to keep things between us but talking to the others put a lot in perspective for me. I apologize for not talking to you first." He smothered a laugh at the contrite look on her face.

"So what changed your mind?" He'd probably regret asking but female logic never failed to amuse him.

"Okay, so if Aisha picked a fight with someone, say Leroy and beat the shit out of him, who would Leroy run to and tell?"

"If he wasn't scared shitless of Johnny that's who."

"Okay, now if Lin beat the crap out of him, who does he run to?" He rubbed his hand over his goatee as he thought and finally shrugged. "That's the reason there aren't that many single ladies in the gang, you men have a problem with powerful women. All of you have less of a problem when you can place it all on her man. It's a throwback to your cavemen days." She bit her lip. "Not that I'm saying you personally are threatened just men in general and it works out better for me if people know about us. The idiots who have problems with me being better than them," she waved her hand, trying to find the right words, "anything I can do better they attribute to you and don't take out their inadequacies on me, like they do with Lin."

"So it was all for show?" He teased. He was surprised the explanation actually made some kind of a sense. The only problem with this was he would have to figure out what he would tell his handler when it came up. He was suppose to report on significant changes in the gang or in his personal life. He could probably come up with something halfway decent.

"No! That's not how I meant it." She looked horrified at the idea.

"Relax, I'm teasing you." He ran his thumb over her lip before kissing her. She wrapped her arms around him as she straddled his hips, pressing close to him, moaning against his lips as she rocked against him. He gripped her hips, stilling her movements, she whimpered, her fingers running through his hair as he pushed her away. He wanted nothing more than to push her down on the bed and relieve the ache she had created, but he listed the reasons why he wasn't going to just yet.

"Oh you ass." She chuckled darkly. "You can't keep teasing me like this." She shook her head as she got off him, padding over to her kitchen and getting herself a glass of water. "You better be worth all this frustration."

"I could say the same thing." He stood and promptly stumbled. The room spun around him, still bobbing as he gripped the wall. There was no way he had gotten drunk off of a bottle of wine. "You got to be fucking kidding me."

"I warned you. Good wine has a habit of sneaking up on you." She pushed him back on the bed. "And I buy very good wine."

"I'll be fine."

"You're staying the night, there's no way in hell I'm letting you drive like this." Her voice was as stern as a nun's. "Get comfy. I promise to be good for the night."

XXX

For what it was worth, she kept her word until morning. After forcing him to stay for the night, he was surprised she didn't try to press him into going further with her. Yeah, he knew he was being pigheaded and foolish but a man needed to be able to look himself in the mirror when he got up. She merely took his clothes from him leaving him in his boxers and folded them nicely for him. She then left him to get settled as she went to shower. He was half asleep by time she finished up, the smell of cinnamon clung to her skin as she joined him in bed. He shouldn't have been so surprised that he slept so well, most of his girls had been sleep cuddlers too, hell it was one of the things he had missed.

He was surprised however by the raging headache he woke with. Jesus he hadn't had one this bad since he was a teen, it was going to take a truckload of aspirin to get rid of this one. He must have made some noise as he felt her stir next to him.

"Wine headaches are the worst, aren't they?" She stroked her hand over his chest. "I have a very good cure for it." She pressed a kiss to his chest, her hand stroking lower, her touch hesitant as she reached the top of his boxers. "Would you like me to show you?" He was pretty sure he knew what her cure was. The bed sifted as she rose up, her hands caressing his chest as she kissed and sucked at his neck. "I'm very good at it." He cupped the back of her head as she played with a sensitive spot that made him gasp. "And unlike you, I don't tease." She chuckled as he nodded his head. He was definitely not putting this in his report.


	16. Chapter 16: Disappointments all around

I hadn't planned on getting him drunk. I had warned him twice about the wine; both times he just waved off my warnings. I was surprised that he didn't fight me when I insisted that he stay the night, I knew how some drunks could be and was grateful he didn't fight me on it. Even in the dim light, staring down at him in my bed was a tad bit too much for me; I forced myself to stay in the shower under freezing cold water until every dirty idea was replaced by sanity. Fortunately for me, he was asleep by time I emerged. It took every single bit of willpower I had just to climb into bed and not touch him. I really would have to get a chair or something for my place to keep something like this from happening again. Or just be the responsible one and not let him have any wine ever again.

It was still early when he first woke up with a groan. I smiled to myself knowing full well what his problem was. I had taken precautions to keep from waking up with the same headache but hadn't offered the same for him. Petty I know but I couldn't resist teaching him a lesson. That and I knew a good way to get rid of a hangover. I was surprised he actually agreed when I offered it but then again, we were in bed, both half naked and it was dark. Things were always easier to agree to in the dark. I kissed my way down his chest, biting and nipping at his flesh, his hand on my head trembled slightly as I reached his hips, my fingers dipping just under the elastic band of his boxers.

"Off." He hesitated long enough that I thought he was going to put an end to this but in the end, he did ask commanded. His breath echoed in the room, sounding loud and harsh as I pressed kisses along that sensitive flesh where hip and leg blend, while my fingers teased the inside of his thigh, just stopping shy of where he wanted my touch. I teased him, my hand spread on his thigh, my thumb stroking just shy of him, the hand on my head gently urging me closer. I moved his hand off my head, lacing my fingers with his, pressing them on his stomach. I had learned the hard way not to let a guy keep his hand on my head after almost being choked once. I mourned the lack of light as I wrapped my fingers around the base of him, I loved the look on a guy's face when I did this but I think that in the light, I would have lost my courage.

"Jesus." He cursed, his body tensing as I ran my hand up his length, trying to judge what I had to work with. Gods, he was rock hard, the veins practically popping for attention as I caressed him. "Ang, we should-", I took him in my mouth, cutting off his ability to speak. In the darkness, he couldn't see me glare at him. I should have known he would start having second thoughts. As I licked and sucked on him the only words that passed his lips was pleads for more and the occasional curse. Each time I felt him tense more, his fingers still laced with mine squeeze tighter, I backed off giving him lazy strokes, blowing gently on his moist member until he fell away from the edge, at one point I had to pin down his other hand as he tried to force me to continue. I kept it up until I had him begging in gaps and moans; I worked him in my mouth hard and fast going down on him as much as I dared. I untangled my hands from his as I stroked him, keeping him from gagging me as his hips rose up, swallowing him down as he cried out.

"So how's that headache?" I asked as I settled back down in the bed next to him. I smiled as I listened to him try to catch his breath.

"Jesus fucking Christ, where the hell did you learn that?" The bed sifted as he turned, his hand running up my arm to rest on my cheek as he moved closer.

"Ex convinced me that it would be easier giving up smoking if I focused on a different oral activity." He pulled me against him, his hand trailing down my body, lifting my leg so that it was resting on his hip.

"Yet you still smoke." His fingers slid up the sensitive underside of my thigh. "Why is that?"

"Jordon broke up with me because I was giving him head too often, he reasoned that if I was doing it that often I had to be cheating." His bark of laughter echoed through the room. He surprised me when he kissed me, his tongue delving into my mouth leaving me gasping as his fingers brushed aside my thong running his fingers over my dripping flesh. He pushed me onto my back, tugging at my thong. "Off." Unlike him, I didn't hesitant, throwing the damn thing across the room in my hurry. My actions caused him to laugh against my lips as he drew me back down. "I swear if you don't finish it this time, I'll hurt you." I warned him.

"No teasing." He promised. He kept his word as his hand dipped between my legs. "Fuck, you're soaked." I wanted to respond with something snarky but my breath caught in my throat as he thrust a finger in me, his thumb flicking over my clit. "Do you have any idea all the things I plan to do you?" He robbed me of speech as he added another finger inside dragging them slowly against my swollen flesh. I clung to him, scrapping my nails over his scalp as I kissed him, my hips moving of their own accord as he drove me to sweet ecstasy. I was so close, so very close when he stilled, pulling away from me. Over the sound of our breaths there was a shrill ringing sound. "Fuck, where are my pants?" He jumped off the bed, heading over to wear I had folded his clothes. The sudden brightness of his cell phone blinded me for a moment. "Mike, yeah I'm here." I watched dumbfounded as he turned his back to me and started getting dressed. "Yeah, no, I wasn't doing anything important." I clenched my jaw. "Yeah, I can be there in twenty." He hung up. I stared at him waiting for him to say something. In the dim light he stared down at the phone, he seemed to withdraw into himself, his eyes as blank as his face even the way he stood there was different now. He looked at me and for a moment he looked so damn angry before that slid away into blankness. "I'll see you later." That was all he said as he walked out of my place. The hell was that?

XXX

I will never understand men. I wish I could say it was just Troy but I always have had trouble understanding men. I would have thought with him being older, he'd be much less complicated. Alas no. If anything he seemed to have more hang-ups than the guys I usually dated. Now, Johnny, he was an easy guy to understand. Give him some heads to crack in and things to blow up and he was happy as a lark and in my current mood he was the most beautiful person I had ever known. And unlike Troy, Gat had delivered some prime satisfaction.

The smoking crater that was once Kingdom Come Records was probably the most beautiful thing I had seen all week. I smiled at my handiwork as I smoked a cigarillo on a park bench waiting for the taxi I called to pick me up. I had gone to the church this morning unable to get back to sleep and unlike Troy, none of my electronics had power including the fancy rechargeable vibrator I had bought. There really had been nothing to do expect stew in frustration and anger. When I had gotten there I had found Johnny and Aisha fighting, which apparently was the norm for them. They had been fighting so hard they hadn't noticed me until I cleared my throat when the fighting started to turn in another direction. Cock-blocking Johnny definitely made the day so much better.

After some glaring Johnny had filled me in on the plan to "kill" Aisha. It had really been an easy job, the only complication had been one of her stalker fans following us. A quick stop at a red light and a bullet through the head solved that. I had seen the ending of Selena, fans were never any good. After that it had been smooth sailing, I had driven as carefully as someone learning on the fly could. I found myself liking Aisha, she was the kind of girl I was use to hanging out with, talking with her made me miss my best friend Bunny. On the way to blow the building, she told me all about her and Gat. It was kind of sweet, the two of them being childhood sweethearts and her having not ended up killing Gat at times, which she assured me was difficult. I told her about this morning and she had patted my arm empathizing with me, stating that not even her man was that much of an ass to leave like that. I could barely wait to through that in his face after I punched him of course.

I was anxious to get back to the church now; Gat had promised that if I did this quick enough I could take part in a raid. Anything to fuck up as many people's day would be good.

"Nice work there, kid." Gat greeted me as I strolled back in his office. "News is already on it and the fan sites are all a buzz." I slapped his hand away when he went to ruffle my already messy hair. I hadn't bothered styling it today and the heat made my hair look like little orphan Annie's. I joined him at the map with several others. "Okay, listen up. This job is a favor for Roe. We going to be hitting this brothel, she wants it closed down but more importantly, she wants the girls taken. According to her sources, more than half of these girls have been forced to work at this place. Eesh's sister could have wound up there if it wasn't for this motherfucker right here." I sighed as he ruffled my hair, what was it about curly hair that made people want to do that? "That means no shooting the fucking girls, got it? You three are going in with me, you two are watching the front door, grab any of the girls that run out front and toss them in the van same goes for you two at the back." He pointed at me and Julio. "You waste any men who come out. Shouldn't be too hard to remember, alright? Now just remember, half of these girls are going to be flying high so they might give you all problems take it easy with them."

XXX

From the sounds of things, the job was going well. Julio and I were bored out of our minds since no one seemed to want to use the back door to escape. A few times the door shook but no one opened it.

"I see you sorted out your kind of dating problem, chica." Julio teased me.

"Don't remind me, he's kind of on my shit list right now." He laughed.

"That's great to hear. Do me a favor, if you two fight make it loud and explosive like Gat's and Aisha's. You have no idea how great it is for all us lowly guys when the lieutenants have problems with their girls. It's probably the best entertainment in the city."

"Why would it be entertaining?"

"Look, if even Gat and Troy can have girl problems, it kind of gives the rest of us hope." He gave me an apprehensive look. "Especially if a pasty motherfucker like Troy can get a girl like you."

"Pasty?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"Tell me the truth chica, he glows in the dark doesn't he?" I was saved from answering the question as the door burst open and two females ran out, he grabbed the one while the other took off. I yelled to him that I would handle it and chased her down. I finally caught up with her a block away and managed to tackle her down to the sidewalk. The smell of sweat, mogra and Indian sandalwood assaulted my nose as I managed to get us to our feet. Dread curled in my stomach as I turned the woman around and stared into a face as familiar as my own. Babette was shorter than me by several inches, her skin was that creamed coffee look like our mother's that I had always envied, she also had her hair, long, silky and black. Right now she looked horrible, her skin was pallid, track marks old and new lined her arms and her eyes had that hollow look she usually hide from me.

"Babette, I've been looking everywhere for you." I threw my arms around her, holding my sister close. "I have so much to tell you." I could feel tears threatening to over take me.

"Non, you're not real." I felt her shake her head and try to pull away from me. "You won't trick me this time Gabriel." Oh perfect, she was hallucinating. Pain suddenly became my world as she pushed me away, a switchblade in her hand covered with blood, my blood. I looked down in shock, blood was gushing out of my side. The amount of blood all over my nice white shirt made me dizzy and the ground rushed up as the world faded to black.


	17. Chapter 17

A lot of people joke about how they were accidents, my grandmother was more than kind enough to inform me that I truly was one. After my siblings were born, ma mère had her tubes tied but not burnt and lo and behold out I popped seventeen years later. Seventeen years is a huge gap between siblings and I probably would have never become close with Babette if it wasn't for Gabriel's death. I couldn't remember much of her twin, the clearest memory I had of him was of his death when I was five. Beyond that I had the vague impression he had been kind of an asshole.

His death had shaped my whole life, I hated him for that. My parent's marriage fell apart with father's drinking while ma mère turned to other men for comfort. I had once asked her why._ I want him to love me enough to fight for me again_. It was sad that he really only started caring about her once she was dead. I had been close to ma mère but it was Babette who paid the most attention to me. With the age gap between us, most people thought she was my mother, a fact she took advantage of every time she had to come to school due to my acting out, either of my parents finding out usually ended up with me a wreck. She was the one that was there to take care of me when I was sick, there to comfort me when I had my panic attacks that left me a mess and the only one who didn't treat me like a burden. I always tried to return the favor but in the end I couldn't.

As wonderful as a sister she was, there was something wrong with her. I never knew if the problems had existed before Gabriel died, my family refused to acknowledge that they existed as they got worse over the years. Babette saw… things and knew things she shouldn't have. When I was still in single digits she had seen doctors about it but they couldn't help her for long. Of course according to my family, there was no such thing as mental health problems in our bloodline, ignoring the fact that schizophrenia and depression was rampant and oh yeah, I suffered from near constant panic attacks at times. I was still young enough that schizophrenia was a threat. I couldn't handle my anxiety half the time, seeing or hearing things like my sister did, terrified me.

More than anything she often saw her twin, listening to one side of conversations between them was commonplace growing up. When doctors couldn't help her, she turned to street meds. The drugs had been the only thing that kept her lucid most days. She kept most of the signs of usage to herself, wearing long sleeves, hiding her supplies and not being completely out of it around me. She was the opposite of our father in that aspect, he never hid the fact he was a drunk, often embarrassing me when he showed up to school plays or sports stumbling drunk. Even with Babette's encouragement to stay in extracurricular activities, I couldn't face people's reactions when he would show up. She had been disappointed in me. _You can't let others take away what you love, Angelique._

Maybe it was because she was better at being a parent and responsible addict than him that he hated her a little more than me. When he threw her out, cutting her off from the family fortune, I lost the only family I really had and made sure he knew at every moment how much I hated him. He returned the favor, especially in the end. He knew his debtors would try to take the money out of my hide. Bastard hadn't even cared enough to leave a note and warn me. It was his fault that I had been forced to find my sister. Everything that was happening was his fault really. He was the one to buy Gabriel the motorcycle he was killed on, he was the one to ignore ma mère feelings, which led to her death and he drove my sister away. It was him that I blamed for her stabbing me in my side. It was him that I was cursing internally as Gat stood over me bitching me out as a doctor treated the wound.

"How the hell can you pass out at the sight of blood? You just close your eyes every time you shoot someone?" I gave him a panicked look as the doctor worked on me. "Don't worry, none of these doctors give a shit as long as you pay them." The doctor shrugged obviously not caring one way or the other.

"I can't stand the sight of my own blood, other people's is fine with me."

"Man, that time of the month must be hell for you." He chuckled. "Do you pass out every time or do you have a spotter for you? How would you even ask someone to do that?"

"Don't be crude, Johnny." I glared at him.

"Come on, I'm just fucking with you. You see the whore who stabbed you?"

"Don't call her that." I snapped. I hated that word, I didn't care if that was what she was now. I couldn't stand that word. I had woken up in the hospital so I hadn't been able to tell anyone what happened yet. It was embarrassing to have been found passed out like that.

"You know who it was?" He looked positively perky at the idea. "We'll get the bitch, don't worry." That's right, Saints looked out for each other. I honestly didn't want to admit that my sister was selling herself for drugs; out of all the girls there she probably had been there voluntarily.

"You can't hurt her."

"Why the fuck not?"

"She's my sister."

"Well shit." All that perkiness deflated, I could see sympathy behind those shades of his. He lifted his hand to ruffle my hair.

"If you touch my hair one more time I will make you eat it." I snarled, causing him to snicker at me.

"I'll put the word out for you okay? She was probably higher than a kite and didn't know what she was doing." I didn't correct him, with my height and my hair dyed black; she probably did think I was Gabriel for a moment. I couldn't dye my hair again if I was going to have her around. I couldn't risk setting her off. If she was getting a regular supply she should have been more lucid than she had been. Most likely the Vice Kings didn't get the good stuff for their whores. Maybe when Dex got the drugs flowing for the gang I could ask him if there was a way I could pay for some premium heroin, the good stuff my family's money had been able to get had always kept her in better shape.

"Thanks. I'll get you a picture of her." The doctor finally finished up, giving me a brief rundown on the care of the wound. I started to feel woozy as he went on and described how close it had been, Gat loaned me his jacket leaving him in a white tee showing off that way too sexy body of his, mine was stained with enough blood to make the world go fuzzy.

"Not a problem." I slapped away his hand yet again when he tried to ruffle my goddamn hair.

"Would you stop that?" I practically screamed as we walked out of the emergency room.

"Not as long as it keeps annoying you." I glared at him as we waited for the valet to pull around his car. "It's just so soft and bouncy; it just begs to be ruffled." He did it again just to be an ass.

"Unlike yours, which you could use to gouge out eyes with." I snarled.

"Now you're just jealous."

"As if I would be jealous of a honey badger wannabe."

"Honey badgers ain't got shit on me."

"Wait you purposely did your hair like that?" In all honestly, I had thought he had just stopped dying his hair. I made a mental note to pick up some supplies later; I wasn't going to end up with black tips.

"Fuck yeah, it's a friendly warning. You don't fuck with honey badgers and you don't fuck with Johnny Gat."

"And I just best everyone takes that warning."

"Nah, motherfuckers always make the mistake and ignore the warning." He grinned at me. "You know, you're the first person to notice." He gave me a one armed hug. "Smart, not too bad to look at and can kick ass almost as well as me, hell I might just adopt you if you don't find your sis."

"Wow, Johnny, you're such a charmer no wonder Aisha put up with you." I said flatly.

"The eight inches help." He laughed at the pained expression on my face and of course ruffled my hair. I was going to start stabbing people if this kept up. "Well, shit." He said after a moment, pushing aside a section of my hair, leaning in close and looking over the rims of his shades.

"What?" I felt my heart speed up; did I have a cut on my head that I hadn't noticed?

"You're a redhead."

"I hate you so much right now."

XXX

"Fuck, I hate you so much right now." Gat echoed my words back at me as we pulled up to the church. The street was a mess, dead Carnales everywhere, two cars that were busy being on fire and on the church steps was a corpse on fire, Troy and Dex standing over it, looking a little worse for wear. "Yo, you got to be kidding me." He gave me a disgusted look that he had missed the action. "I was hoping to kill the motherfucker."

"We probably would have been here for it if you hadn't insisted on stopping at Freckle Bitches'." He just glared at me for the reminder. We had been in the drive through for half an hour before finding out they were waiting for the power to come back on. He had been ready to kill someone after that.

"Yeah, well you're the one that took forever at that shop." It had taken me exactly five minutes to pick up supplies. I watched Troy pull out a cig and lean down. He really wasn't going to…

"What?" Troy asked after he lit his cig, using the flames from the corpse much to the disgust of Dex and I. "Where you been?" His eyes narrowed as he looked back and forth between Gat and I. The two of us probably made a sight with me wearing his jacket that was at least two sizes too big on me.

"Had to take her bitch ass to the hospital, gangbanger that passes out at the sight of blood, you ever hear of such a thing?"

"Own blood, there's a huge difference."

"Meh, whatever. You owe me for making me miss this." He looked around. "Clean up is going to be a bitch, I'll get the crew started on it. Try not to prick your finger and pass out again princess." He was never going to let me live this down.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" I wanted ask now about the drugs before Dex got things up and running.

"Yeah, come on." Troy, of course, thought I was talking to him.

"I was talking to Dex, Troy." Dex looked between the two of us, his lips kicking up in amusement. I followed Dex into his office, closing the door in Troy's face just to be catty.

"The two of you are going to be a regular Gat and Eesh, ain't you?" Dex chuckled at the sour look on my face. "So what's up?" I explained the situation about Babette. "Come on Ang, how you going to pay for that? Be serious now." He said after I voiced my request, shaking his head at me. "She'd be better off in a hospital."

"She never stays on the meds but the heroin she takes like clockwork." He gave me a long look before shaking his head.

"I'm not going help you."

"What? Why?" I had thought that he would be willing to help; I could get the money even if it meant putting myself in danger of them finding me.

"I'm going to give you a piece of advice. You can't fix people and you aren't responsible for them."

"She's my sister, Dex. She's the only family I have left."

"I understand that but you giving up everything for her isn't going to fix her. She has to do that herself. You give up everything for her and she doesn't get better, one day all that love you use to look at her with will be nothing more than bitter hate and you'll wonder why you haven't killed her." He waved me off, picking up his notebook and began writing in it. I guess that was the end of that. I left, sitting down in one of the pews staring up at the broken altar. How many times had I gone to church asking God for help with my family? How many times had Father Matthews told me that He worked in mysterious ways before I left Catholicism behind with a bad taste in my mouth? No one made such bullshit excuses for the Goddess and her consort. They offered guidance, but didn't make things happen, it was up to you to make things happen. And right now, I felt fucking useless. I dropped my head in my hands as tears coursed down my face. I had been so close. I felt the pew dip as someone sat down beside me, the smell of smoke and cologne told me it was Troy without having to look. He put an arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him, burying my face against his chest. He let me cry until I was out of steam, not saying a word, just stroking a hand through my hair. He'd probably ask me fifty thousand questions later. I sat up wiping off my face, I wasn't a pretty crier.

"Come on, let's get you home so you can at least get changed." He drew me to my feet. The way he said it made me think he really didn't like seeing Johnny's jacket on me. "Here I'll drop off the jacket before we leave." I hid my smirk as he drew down the zipper, revealing the fact I had nothing on underneath. He blinked like a deer in headlights for a moment before hurriedly pulling the zipper back up. I saw the gears in his head turning as he processed it. Sometimes men were so damn predictable.

"Get that thought out of your head." I poked him in the chest. "I'm still pissed at you; don't make it worse by saying something stupid."

"What are you pissed about?" He honestly sounded confused. It was all too much, I snapped and punched him, his head jerked to the side with the force of it and he stumbled back a step.

"Oh, I'm not doing anything important. Yeah I can be there in twenty minutes." I tried my best to mock his accent. "You could have finished what you were doing and had ten minutes to spare with the way you drive."

"Fair enough." He tenderly touched his cheek. "Feel better?"

"Non, I think I pulled a stitch."


	18. Chapter 18

"Get the hell away from my bed. You are banned from being anywhere near it, in fact just go stand in the corner." I snapped at Troy as he went to sit down. He gave me a pointed look and made a show of sitting down. I glared at him as I went about plugging in my poor deprived electrons. It felt like a miracle when I had opened my door to find the AC on and my lights working, I didn't waste any time gathering my things and pulling them in, well, except for my vibrator. I wasn't about to pull that out in front of him. I said a prayer, hoping and begging the power would be on long enough to charge something fully; I was tired of being bored out of my mind.

"You want to talk about what happened?" I leaned against the countertop and took a deep breath. Talking about what happened would lead to too many questions from him and as much as I wanted him, I wasn't about to let him into that part of me, that would only end in heartbreak.

"Non, not yet. Talk about anything else but that please."

"Okay. So why aren't you wearing a bra?" I rolled my eyes at the question as far as distractions went it was a good direction.

"I don't know if you've notice but I'm small enough not to need one."

"No I didn't notice. I think you should come over here and let me get a better look." He said it so nonchalantly as if it was only of an academic interest to him. I shook my head, knowing full damn well I shouldn't be so charmed by it. "Come on Angel." He patted his lap. "I need to check your wound anyhow." I was nervous now, it was silly considering what we had been doing this morning but I couldn't help it. He crooked his fingers at me beckoning me over. It was hard crossing the room to go to him even when he placed his hands on my hips and drew me down so that I was straddling him. The look he gave me told me he had noticed, he didn't say anything, just laced his fingers through my hair and kissed me. He kissed me long and hard until the last of the butterflies disappeared to be replaced with a most delectable lust. He drew back from the kiss smiling. "That's much better." I didn't want to think about the implications that he was already learning how to manage me. He drew down the zipper, helping me out of the jacket and throwing it halfway across the room. He looked to the wound first, lifting my arm as he inspected it. I stared firmly at the wall, not needing to get sick from looking at it. "You didn't pop a stitch but you're going to have a scar here."

"You know I didn't have any scars before I joined this damn gang." Something about my remark made him still, after a moment he let my arm fall back down and looked at me; his eyes had not a hint of the previous lust but complete seriousness.

"I'm not going to lie to you, this is a hard life. Things are going to get worse Angel, you need to seriously think about this, it's not all fun and games, you could end up dead and you will probably lose friends, if not from other another gangs then by the law." He cupped my cheek. "Look, it's not unusual for women in the gang to fade away. No matter how good you are, people would write it off as another woman who couldn't handle the violence. If you ever want out, I'll get you out." I rubbed my face against his hand as I thought. I knew people were going to die, hell, I had probably killed someone's best friend by now. It should bother me but it didn't and that was what bothered me. I was sure that an offer like this wasn't given lightly and that it would cause problems for him if I took it. I didn't know why he was offering but I wasn't going to bring down the mood by pointing out that the gang was all I had now or pointing out that the gang was the best way to find Babette again. I certainly wasn't going to mistake the offer for some hint of deeper emotions, it was mostly likely because he had seen what could happen and didn't think I was capable of handling it.

"Troy, you have a half naked girl in your lap, can't you think of better things to talk about?" I placed a kiss on his palm. "Or maybe you could finish what you started this morning?" Emotions chase through his eyes and I watched him come to some type of decision.

"Only if you're good." He teased, dropping the subject, his eyes dropping away from mine as his hands moved over my body. His hands cupped my breasts, thumbs flicking over my already hard nipples. He kept at it as he kissed me, biting gently on my lower lip. "I have a theory I can make you come from just playing with that lip of yours." He mused after I had whimpered when he had sucked on my lip.

"Stop playing." I begged, running my hands through his hair pressing fevered kisses to his lips. He held me tight against him, the roughness of his shirt scrapping against my already swollen breasts, his hands wandered down my back, ending up cupping my ass, his fingers playing with my soaked flesh.

He pulled aside my thong, teasing my flesh for a moment before sinking a finger into me. "Fuck, are you always this wet?"

"Only around you." I panted against his lips as he toyed with me. "Every time I'm around you all I can think about is how I want that mouth of yours on me."

"Here?" He gave me another one of his mind scrambling kisses, his tongue thrusting in time with his fingers. "Or maybe here?" He kissed his way down the side of my neck as he played with me almost lazily. I almost screamed in frustration when he withdrew his fingers when I started rocking harder against his hand.

"Goddamn it Troy."

"I said I would get you off, stop trying to rush it." He slapped my clit gently making me cry out. "You going to be good?" He sank his fingers into me rubbing against that spot that had me clinging to him.

"I'll be good, please don't stop." I pleaded with him. He teased me, a knowing smile on his face as he kept backing off as I got close. Much to my horror, his cell started ringing. "Don't you dare answer that."

"Got to, might be something important." He sifted slightly pulling out his phone but not bothering to remove his fingers. "Dex, what's up?" He shushed me as I whimpered, grabbing his wrist, trying to stop him as he continued to play with me. I dug my nails into his wrist in an effort to stop him but he sped up his ministrations if anything. I tried rising away from him, scrambling to get away from his horrible teasing but he only balanced the phone on his shoulder as he secured my wrists with one hand, holding me in place as he still played with me. I buried my face against his neck trying to muffle my panting and close out his conversation. It seemed like they talked forever as he continually took me to the edge, never allowing me to finish.

"Yeah, she's right here, hold on. Dex wants to talk to you." I looked at him in horror and shook my head. There was no way I was going to talk while he did this. "Either take the phone or I won't continue until next month." He whispered against my ear as he let go of my hands holding out the phone to me. The look on his face was serious, so serious that I didn't put it past him that he would do it. I snatched the phone out of his hand, I pressed the other hand against his chest, trying to separate as much as possible from him.

"What?" I snapped, trying to control my breathing. Troy took that moment to lean forward and use that mouth of his on my breast. My gods, that goatee of his added so much.

"Yo, I know you're mad at me but don't give me that attitude." Dex snapped right back.

"Je suis vraiment baise occupé." I tugged at his hair, pleading with my eyes for him to stop. He looked me straight in the eyes as he swirled his tongue around my nipple.

"Did you just cuss me out?" Troy looked at me in amusement at my inability to form English words. "Whatever. Look, get your ass back here by six, I need you on a job." Dex was in the middle of saying something else but I hung the phone up on him just as I started to come. The phone crashed to the floor I spitefully hoped that it would break before I lost myself in pleasure. He didn't stop me this time as I rode his hand until I was completely spent, barely able to cling to him in the afterglow.

"Huh, didn't take you for the quiet type, thought you'd be a screamer."

"Je ne sais pas si je devrais vous haïr ou aimer vous dès maintenant." I muttered against his lips as I drew him to me. I was going to hit him as soon as I could move again.

XXX

"You ever hang up on me again like that and I'll take it out of your ass." Dex snapped at me as soon as I entered his office. "And I don't give a rat's ass if French is your first language, you speak English to you, understand?" My cheeks heated with embarrassment as I nodded and I wondered how long Dex would bitch me out. "Where's your man at?"

"He's doing something with Julius." Most of the time when I did anything with a guy, afterwards he left and I didn't see them for a few days, not so with Troy. The ride back to the church had been an awkward one for me, after everything he did; I didn't know what to say and his smug smirk didn't help one bit.

"Good, let's go." I followed him a little slower than I usually walked, my legs still felt like jelly. Troy had made up for this morning, more than made up. It had been embarrassing though when I forgot my English, it had amused the hell out of him though. It wasn't my first language, hell, it wasn't even my second, so when I was stressed or emotional I always tended to lapse back into French. And goddamn, Troy had definitely made me lapse hard. I felt odd about not returning the favor but his excuse of not trusting himself had left me feeling prideful. His ever so American idea of what sex was amused me, if you had asked me what we did counted, though I wouldn't tell him that. Afterwards he had helped me dress, his hands possessive as he insisted I wear one of my sexy bras, even when I explained it was decorative and not functional. Of course with Dex acting all puffed up, my good mood was dissipating.

"I'm sorry I hung up on you and I didn't curse you out. I was busy", I stressed the word, "with Troy." He glared at me over the hood of the car.

"I didn't need that mental image."

"I just wanted you to know that I wasn't being catty with you because you said no to me. I'm not that much of a spoiled brat."

"Next time, just let me stay angry and keep all that stuff outside of the church, I catch the two of you on my workstation I will not be happy." I hid my laugh behind a cough. The way he said it made it clear he had caught someone at some point. Out of everyone I had ridden with, Dex was the one who could drive like a normal person, stopping at signs, staying in the right lane and not running people over, hell he even had both hands on the wheel. It was not what I had expected out of him. It wasn't until we pulled up Technically Legal that I broke the silence.

"Dex, why are we at a strip club?"

"I got word that Orejuela is here, I need you to let me do all the talking, got it?" I grabbed his arm before he could get out of the car.

"Let me rephrase that. Why am I going with you into a strip club instead of Troy or another guy? I'm not exactly appreciative of other women's bodies."

"Which means you're more likely to pay attention to what's going on instead of ogling the girls, you feel me?"

"Troy strikes me as the type to pay attention-" He rolled his eyes before cutting me off.

"Then ask fifty million questions." We shared a smile. It was nice to know that someone else shared my annoyance with him. I had never been inside a strip club before, of course I had seen them in movies but nothing prepared me for what it was actually like. It smelled ungodly, booze, stale sweat and odors I didn't want to think where they were coming from. How could men get aroused in here? We found Orejuela in the VIP section after Dex slipped money to the doorman, he was being entertained by a set of giggling twins.

"Mr. Orejuela, I'm Dex Jackson and this is Angelique Montague, we represent the Saints and would like to talk to you." I fought to keep my expression pleasant as the man's eyes took in my appearance. We took the seats he offered as the twins left, I grimaced I sat down, wishing I had worn a longer skirt today, trying not to guess what the sticky stuff on the seat was. Dex launched into an obviously prepared speech about breaking away from the Carnales and siding with the Saints, the whole time Orejuela eyed me.

"Please, relax, how about some drinks?" He waived over a stripper/waitress. "Allow me to buy you a drink señora."

"Señorita please, unlike half the girls here, I'm actually under eighteen." I ignored the look Dex gave me.

"Of course, of course, my mistake." He gave me a critical look. "I feel like I have seen you somewhere before." After that he ignored me as he talked to Dex about business. I guess that it was a pretty standard deal, he would cut out the Carnales if we got his product back. It was clear the way he talked about the gang that he didn't trust Angelo managing things and knew they would be dying out soon. The two of them shook hands and much to my relief, we finally left and as we walked out, I could feel the man's eyes on me. It made me nervous, what if he knew the people who were looking for me?

XXX

Translations:

Je suis vraiment baise occupé: I am really fucking busy

Je ne sais pas si je devrais vous haïr ou aimer vous dès maintenant: I don't know if I should hate you or love you right now


	19. Chapter 19

Getting yelled at like a child was never one of my favorite things, fortunately for me I wasn't the one being yelled at, Dex was. Instead of being pleased with him, Julius was rimming him out about overstepping his place. Apparently even though he was a lieutenant, Dex didn't have the power to make deals for the gang leaving me to wonder what exactly the benefits of being one were.

"Jules, Orejuela has been hard to track down, I had to take the chance he was there."

"You should have called me then. I'm in charge of this gang not you and don't call me Jules, you haven't earned that right."

"Orejuela was just about to leave with a dancer when we got there; I doubt he would have waited for you." I lied trying to get Julius to back the hell off. Dex had been so damn happy when we had come back to the church to tell the good news, only to have Julius shut him down. I had been more than relieved to see Troy still with Julius and took the seat next to him, I was still been creeped out over the Colombian and couldn't get this feeling of dread out of my system. There was no way that the drug lord had ever seen me, maybe I just had a familiar face? Right, because there were so many women of my coloring and stature.

"If I had asked him to wait he might have taken offense at it and not dealt with us and then where would we be?" Had to hand it to him, he could think on his feet. Julius seemed to calm down after that and the two of them talked about the deal that Dex had arranged and I noticed he lied about the percentage but I didn't say anything. After the rimming he just received, I would feel entitled too. We would have to get the product back from the police and they would deal with us. At that detail Troy's hand stilled on my neck where he had been idly massaging the knot that had formed as Julius and Dex fought. I glanced over at him, noticing how his posture became rigid and the expression on his face. No, he didn't like the idea of going against the cops and frankly neither did I. Cops were never a good thing, most were corrupted and couldn't give two shits about their actual job. Even when I was a child I had been cautioned on the dangers of police. Never ever trust one. I found it odd that while Dex wasn't allowed to make major decisions, he was allowed to make the plans on how to follow up. As Julius left us to formulate a plan, I wondered exactly what did he do.

"You okay?" Troy asked when Dex left to go get some stuff for planning.

"Rough day that's all." My answer seemed to amuse him going by the twitch of his lips.

"You are the tightest lipped girl I know." He pinched my chin in his fingers tipping my lips up to his. I leaned into him, letting his kiss swept away all my cares. This is what I needed, the physical wiping out my racing thoughts. Zannies and A-minus helped but not as much as this did, it was the reason I always had a boyfriend no matter how badly they treated me, when I was touching someone, I could forget for a while.

"You weren't complaining about that earlier, in fact I think you enjoyed my tight lips." I teased him when I came up for air. Much to my surprise he actually blushed, turning away and light up a cig. "You're adorable."

"Isn't that my line?" He grumbled as his blush deepened as I smiled like a loon at him.

"Oh no, your line is how beautiful I am." I leaned into him, my hand tracing down his chest. "I think you should come over tonight, maybe skip the wine this time though."

"Jesus." He stopped the descent of my hand, his face taking on a stern look. "Earlier was a mistake. I promised to take it slow- what's so fucking funny?" He scowled at me when I started laughing. I bet he had had this little speech all prepared.

"I'll let you in on a little secret; this thing between us is slow compared to how most of my relationships go. It's easier to get sex out of the way and build things around that." It was my turn to blush. "Not that I'm screw on the first date kind of girl."

"I don't know, you've been trying to get in my pants since day one." The look on his face was far too self assured.

"Only because Gat is taken." I said trying to take him down a peg or two. The way he narrowed his eyes as he took a drag on his cig told me it had hit home. Any remark he was planning on making died as soon as Dex walked back in the room carrying his notebook and a map he spread over the table. I smirked at Troy as I got up, I loved getting the last word in.

"Okay, according to my contacts the police are holding the drugs at this station and we're getting them back."

"And how the fuck are we doing that? Walking up to them and asking pretty please?"

"We're taking out the station."

"Are you out of your fucking mind? Besides from the fact they'd lock it down before you'd get anywhere, that's more trouble than we fucking need. Killing fuck knows how many cops is best way to get the gang put on their top list."

"It's Julius' plan. He called it and we got to go with it."

"No we don't." Troy took a deep drag as he turned the map around, a look of concentration on his face. "Barrio station's evidence locker is against this wall, blow a hole into it and avoid most of the problems."

"It'd lower the body count."

"Exactly." The two of them talked about the finer details of the mission while I stood there thinking. Babette had definitely been on drugs, the same type of drugs we were stealing from the cops. Roe had also mentioned the VKs kept their girls on drugs to keep them in control.

"The Carnales don't deal with the VKs do they?" I interrupted the two of them.

"None of the gangs deal with each other." The tone of Troy's voice said I was stupid for asking.

"Where do they get their drugs then? They have to have a good source for the amount they need to control their ladies of the night, so where does it come from?" The two men stared at me, Troy missing my point while Dex seemed to understand where I was going with this.

"The bust was over the news, they'd know it was there."

"Would the two of you like to fill me the fuck in?" Troy snapped.

"My father always used to say that there are two main sources of drugs in a city: the criminals and the police. If the Carnales aren't selling to the VKs, that means they are buying from the cops." He didn't look happy at my statement.

"I doubt the cops are selling to them, we'd know about it."

"Please Troy don't be so naïve, main source of corruption and crime always comes from law enforcement and politicians." I patted his hand in a most condensing manner.

XXX

Turned out my guess had been right, Dex had used his resources to find out how exactly Tanya went about buying the drugs, it wasn't like she could show up with a suitcase of money. No, apparently she had a standing arrangement with the Police Chief and paid him off personally. The two of us came up with a plan that would end up screwing both the VKs and the police. Everyone knew the police were in bed with the gang, letting them do too much and we needed to fuck that up. What better way than having the police give the wrong gang the drugs? The whole time the two of us talked it over, Troy sat there with a bored expression on his face, giving me a hint that I wasn't going to be getting any for a while. I guess I could have toned down the smart-assness of my comments but it had been too tempting to show off.

"While you two geniuses are planning this shit that's going to blow up in our faces, I'm going to get some food." Troy said after half an hour of sitting there sulking.

"Can you get me a vanilla milkshake and number two meal? Please?" I asked as sweetly as possible.

"Yeah, get me a number five with large fries." Dex mimicked my tone causing Troy to glare at him as he practically stomped out of the room.

"So, why lie about the amount?" I asked once I was sure we were alone.

"You going to rat on me?"

"Who would believe me?" I snorted. "Just curious as to the why."

"There's no such thing as an old gangbanger. This isn't exactly what I want to do with my life, I want more than this shit. You feel me?" When I thought about it, Julius and Troy were probably the oldest people in the gang, most of the gang was around my age or in a five-year difference.

"Everyone's got to have a goal in life."

"So what do you want? Call me cynical but I highly doubt you'll keep your mouth shut for nothing."

"I need a car, you're the smart one, you probably have tons of research on crap like that. I'll pay for it, I just need something that an idiot like me can't break."

"Fair enough."

XXX

I will be the first to admit, I'm not very good with people but what I am good at is playing a part. Back in school, theater was one of my favorite things and today I was playing a very important part. Tanya Winters was not only a trashy whore in every sense of the word but she also was a lazy one. She apparently had rather spend more time on her back than personally handle business which meant she employed an assistant. Unfortunately most of the assistants found themselves being fired and being put in the most degrading line of work any time they showed any sense of competency. She didn't like competition.

Fortunately for us, that meant claiming to be another of her ill-fated assistants wouldn't raise too many eyebrows at the stations. Dressing the part as easy given the contents of my closet, I tended to favor what I called fire colors, lots of reds, yellows, blues and white. A yellow top laced with black stripes combined with a black mini skirt with slits on the side that revealed the tops of my lacy stockings when I walked. I styled my hair so that I played the orphan Annie look to the max and my makeup had been done so that it seemed more like a little girl who got her hands on her mommy's. All together the combination made me look even younger and vulnerable.

"Can I help you miss?" The desk sergeant looked me over as I stood there.

"I'm supposed to see a Captain Myers?" He stared me down for a few minutes before buzzing me in the back, giving me directions to the Captain.

"Captain Myers, I'm Janie I was told to speak to you about" I paused taking a nervous breath and lowered my voice, "the shipment Ms. Winters wanted."

"I don't understand why you're here, the shipment was arranged for Thursday." He stated as he smoked. I honestly thought smoking was illegal in public buildings.

"I don't understand, Ms. Winters told me I had to get the shipment back to her tonight." I put my best confused look on my face.

"Well, she'll get it Thursday." His eyes roamed over me. "How old are you kid?"

"Fifteen sir." I whispered staring down at the floor.

"Tanya wants to you to fuck this up. What did you do to piss her off?"

"I-I tripped over something and spilled her drink on her. She was so angry and Tony told her to leave me alone." I bit my lip. "You have to help, if I don't show up with the shipment, she's going to make me work in one of the brothels."

"You could just run away."

"Blood in, blood out." I shook my head. "They'd kill me better a whore than dead."

"Alright kid, tell you what, I'll give it to you early only because I can't stand that bitch." I thanked him profusely as he made a call arranging for several men to carrying things out to the truck that was parked outside manned by Julio dressed in VK colors. I high-fived Julio when I climbed in next to him after the truck was loaded. I couldn't wait to rub the success in Troy's face.

XXX

Myers sighed miserably thinking how much he could have bought with the money he would have normally gotten. Still it was going to be a riot when Tanya showed up and at least after Thursday he wouldn't have to spray his office anymore to get rid of her fetid stink. Still, even if O'Malley hadn't tipped him off, he would have bought that girl's act. At least now he could take some pleasure in pissing off the whore.


End file.
